Why Trump’s nuclear talks with Iran could be far more successful than Biden’s
This combination of pictures created on April 09, 2025 shows US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff after a meeting with Russian officials at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on February 18, 2025 (L); and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaking to AFP during an interview at the Iranian consulate in Jeddah on March 7, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Amer Hilabi | AFP | Getty Images
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Talks between U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration and Iran’s government on a potential renewed nuclear agreement began on a positive note over the weekend, representatives of both countries said, despite enduring sticking points and a lack of clarity on the specific conditions held by each side.
Notably, there was more optimism toward a deal and overall communication between the longtime adversaries. Delegates from the U.S. and Iran agreed to hold more talks next week in Rome, while Iran’s Foreign Affairs Ministry described the negotiations of Saturday as having taken place in a “constructive atmosphere and based on mutual respect.”
This highlights the gaping difference between the Biden administration’s attempts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and the position that the Trump administration finds itself in today: one with dramatically changed advantages for Washington and a much weaker and more vulnerable Iran.
“The Iranians are, I think, a little bit more desperate than they were in 2022, and they are faced with a very weak economy,” Gregory Brew, senior analyst on Iran and energy at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, told CNBC.
“Iran’s regional position has been significantly weakened. They’re concerned about how much more stress that they can handle — their internal position, the situation of internal discontent is likely only to get worse. So they do have an interest in obtaining a deal sooner rather than later, and Trump is giving them — or potentially giving them — an opportunity to obtain such a deal.”
Biden was also constrained by public opinion, Brew noted, risking criticism of appearing “soft” on Iran. Trump doesn’t face those same limitations, he said — the president is already seen as an Iran hawk and re-implemented “maximum pressure” sanctions on the country soon after entering office.
Iran’s economy has deteriorated dramatically in the years since Trump in 2018 withdrew the U.S. from the multicountry deal, formally titled the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or the JCPOA. The agreement was brokered in 2015 along with Russia, China, the EU and U.K. under the Obama administration to curb and stringently monitor Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief.
Already facing several years of protests, significantly weakened currency, and a cost-of-living crisis for Iranians, the Islamic Republic was hit with the hammer blow of losing its main ally in the Middle East last year, when the Assad regime collapsed in Syria. Tehran’s arch-enemy Israel meanwhile killed most of the senior leadership of Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon.
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was formerly staunchly opposed to negotiations with the U.S., but senior Iranian government officials reportedly launched a coordinated effort to change his mind, framing the decision as critical to the regime’s survival.
What kind of a ‘nuclear program’ are we talking about?
Trump has made is abundantly clear that he will not accept a nuclear-armed Iran. Recent years have raised the stakes: in the time since Trump withdrew from the JCPOA, Iran has been enriching and stockpiling uranium at its highest levels ever, prompting the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, to issue numerous warnings.
“Iran remains the only non-nuclear weapon state enriching uranium to this level, raising significant concerns over potential weapons development,” a U.N. news release from March 3 read.
Tehran insists that its program is for civilian energy purposes only, but Iran’s nuclear enrichment has reached 60% purity, according to the IAEA — dramatically higher than the enrichment limit posited in the 2015 nuclear deal, and a short technical step from the weapons-grade purity level of 90%.
Trump has repeatedly warned of a U.S. military response if Iran doesn’t change course to Washington’s satisfaction.
“I would like a deal done with Iran on non-nuclear. I would prefer that to bombing the hell out of it,” the American president said in early February in an interview with the New York Post.
AFP | Getty Images
That pressure has clearly had an impact on Tehran’s willingness to come to the table, says Ryan Bohl, a senior Middle East and North African analyst at the RANE Network.
“I think the Iranians are eager to develop a workable framework that will allow extended negotiations that would forestall military action that President Trump certainly has suggested could come in just a few months,” Bohl said.
“Moreover,” he added, “the Iranian economy could use any suggestion of relief to improve conditions on the ground, which would in turn improve public support for the Islamic Republic.”
Still, the specific parameters of a potential deal have not yet been discussed, and further talks will reveal the extent of the differences between each country’s position.
Chief among the remaining sticking points is the fact that Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear program — that’s a red line for Tehran, its leaders have said. But exactly what kind of program that is may actually be something the Trump administration is willing to show flexibility on, as long as Iran can’t actually develop a bomb.
Subsequent talks will need to reveal Trump’s conditions, which have so far been kept under wraps.
“Ultimately, I think the key to these negotiations was always going to be around what the U.S. demands were towards Iran,” Nader Itayim, Mideast Gulf Editor at Argus Media, told CNBC’s “Access Middle East” on Monday.
“Is the U.S. looking to completely dismantle the Iranian nuclear program, or is it purely a matter of just ensuring verification to make sure there is no weaponization of this program?”
“I think Donald Trump has been very clear over the last two, three weeks in particular: no weaponization. Weaponization is that red line,” Itayim said. “The Iranians can work with that — they’ve always claimed and said that we are not after nuclear weapons. So this was a good starting point.”
Deep distrust remains between the two sides, and Iran hawks — in particular, U.S. ally Israel — are displeased that the negotiations are taking place and oppose any potential flexibility by the Trump administration.
On Wednesday, a few days before the U.S.-Iran talks in Oman, Trump said that Israel would be the “leader” of any potential military strike against Iran, if its government does not give up its nuclear weapons program.
Environment
Trump targets solar and wind with tighter federal permitting in another blow to renewable industry
Lucid Motors’ (LCID) shares soared over 50% after the company secured a multi-hundred-million dollar investment from Uber to deploy robotaxis. So, why did Lucid just announce plans for a reverse stock split?
Why did Lucid announce a reverse stock split?
Lucid and Uber announced a new alliance on Thursday to deploy 20,000 electric robotaxis over the next six years.
The new robotaxi service, set to launch next year, will combine Lucid’s advanced software-defined EV platform with Nuro’s Level 4 self-driving tech.
As part of the new alliance, Uber plans to make “multi-hundred-million-dollar investments” in Lucid and Nuro. The first autonomous prototype is already in operation on a closed track at Nuro’s facility in Las Vegas.
Lucid’s interim CEO, Marc Winterhoff, said, “This investment from Uber further validates Lucid’s fully redundant zonal architecture and highly capable platform as ideal for autonomous vehicles.” Winteroff claimed that the new alliance “is the start of our path to extend our innovation and technology leadership into this multi-trillion-dollar market.”
The Lucid Gravity boasts an impressive EPA-estimated range of 450 miles. Its electric sedan, the Lucid Air, just broke a Guinness World Record after traveling 749 miles (1,205 km) on a single charge.
Lucid’s partnership with Uber sent share prices surging over 50% during trading hours on Thursday. In a separate filing with the SEC today, Lucid announced plans to initiate a 1-for-10 reverse stock split.
The split won’t affect shareholder ownership, except in cases where fractional shares are created. In that case, shareholders will receive a cash payment.
Lucid said it believes the reverse stock split “will allow the company’s common stock to be more attractive to a broader range of investors and other market participants.”
A vote of confidence
During an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, Winterhoff explained that a portion of the $300 million investment from Uber will be used to develop the self-driving tech with Nuro. Winterhoff added that Lucid’s surging share price was “a vote of confidence.”
According to Winterhoff, the reverse stock split is not due to Lucid’s fear of being delisted, but rather to attract larger investors.
It was also more of a “technical” strategy to reduce volatility and help Lucid participate in the broader stock market.
Many institutional investors avoid stocks priced below $5 due to the higher risk and price swings. The proposed stock split still requires shareholder approval, which will be voted on at an upcoming special stockholders’ meeting.
After that, Lucid’s Board of Directors will determine whether it’s still in the best interest of the company and its stockholders to proceed.
Lucid’s stock rose over 36% on Thursday, closing at $3.12 per share. Although shares of LCID are up just slightly (+2%), they are now up year-to-date. However, they are still down 18% over the past year and nearly 95% from their all-time high of over $58 a share in February 2021.
Last week, after meeting with Lucid’s CFO, Taoufiq Boussaid, Benchmark analyst Mickey Legg set a target share price of $5.00, which was subsequently raised to $7.00 following the announcement of the Uber partnership.
Legg wrote a note to investors, “After meeting with LCID’s CFO Taoufiq Boussaid on Tuesday and reviewing 2Q production and deliveries, we remain confident in the company’s path to scale.”
Lucid delivered a record 3,309 vehicles in Q2, its seventh straight quarter with higher deliveries. The company aims to produce 20,000 vehicles this year, more than double the roughly 9,000 it made in 2024.
After ending the first quarter with $5.76 billion in liquidity, Lucid said that it has sufficient funding to last until the second half of 2026, when it plans to launch its more affordable midsize EV platform. The first two models will be a midsize SUV and sedan, starting at about $50,000.
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IONNA, the EV charging joint venture backed by eight automakers – BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Toyota – just announced its biggest charging deal yet. It’s teaming up with convenience store favorite Wawa to roll out ultra-fast EV chargers at locations across the US.
The first site opens next week at Wawa’s W. International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. More Rechargeries (yup, that’s what IONNA calls them) are already under construction in Bradenton, Pensacola, and Orlando. The partnership will be a big boost to both IONNA’s national charging goals and Wawa’s growing EV infrastructure.
The Daytona Beach Wawa will feature IONNA’s blue-and-orange 400kW Genuine Charge Dispensers, canopy coverage, car care essentials, and, of course, access to Wawa’s refreshments and restrooms.
“Next week’s opening of the IONNA Rechargery at Wawa in Daytona Beach will bring our total bay count to 212 live and 3,064 contracted. That is over 10% contracted to our 2030 live bay goal in just over a year,” said IONNA CEO Seth Cutler.
Wawa’s chief fuel officer, Rich Makin, added, “With an ongoing commitment to providing our customers with speed and convenience, our new collaboration with IONNA does just that.”
IONNA aims to install 30,000 fast charging bays across North America by 2030.
Read more: Waffle House is getting DC fast chargers – and it’s a genius move
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