🇮🇷 Iran says it will soon begin connecting its electricity grid with Qatar, reviving a 2022 MOU, and facilitate the transfer of up to 1,000 megawatts of power, according to Iran’s Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi and IRGC-affiliated Tasnim.
🔹 Aliabadi said feasibility studies are in their final stage and the project is entering implementation. Iran is also studying electricity links with other Gulf Cooperation Council states.
🔹 The move signals deepening economic ties as the U.S.-Iran agreement advances. The Financial Times and Reuters have reported that the proposed MOU includes a $300 billion investment and reconstruction fund intended to attract foreign capital into Iran if a final agreement is reached after 60 days.
🔹 Companies in the U.S., Europe, South Korea, Japan and elsewhere have expressed interest in investments in Iran spanning energy, manufacturing, transport and logistics.
💢 Reuters: The proposed U.S.-Iran agreement includes a $300 billion private investment fund aimed at driving investment into Iran, with more than half the financing reportedly already committed, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations.
🔹 The fund, known as the Reconstruction and Development Fund, would not use U.S. government money and would only become operational if a final agreement is reached after a 60-day negotiating period.
🔹 The FT said the funds would not come from governments but from companies. Reuters reported that companies from the U.S., Gulf states, Asia, South America and Africa have committed financing for projects in energy, manufacturing, transport and logistics.
🔹The Financial Times separately reported that officials and people briefed on the talks described strong interest from companies in Europe, South Korea, Japan and the United States if sanctions are lifted.
🔹 The fund is separate from negotiations over sanctions relief and the release of Iranian assets frozen abroad, Reuters said. Iran had initially sought $400 billion in compensation for war damage, but the proposed investment fund emerged as an alternative mechanism.