Iran nuclear talks ‘positive’ despite enrichment, sabotage

VIENNA: Russia said on Thursday that the latest talks in Vienna to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal were positive despite fresh tensions, with Tehran preparing to ramp up uranium enrichment in response to an attack on a facility it blamed on arch-foe Israel.

The latest round of negotiations took place between diplomats over roughly two hours on Thursday afternoon, with Russia’s ambassador to the UN in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov tweeting afterwards that the "general impression is positive".

He added Thursday’s talks "will be followed by a number of informal meetings in different formats, including at expert level". The talks comprised delegations from the remaining parties to the deal -- Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and Iran.

An European diplomat had told AFP in advance of the meeting that Iran’s announcement that it would enrich uranium up to 60 percent "puts pressure on everyone". The move would take Iran closer to the 90 percent purity level needed for use in a nuclear weapon.

EU external affairs spokesperson Peter Stano described the announcement as "extremely worrisome from a nuclear non-proliferation point of view". "There is no credible or plausible civilian justification for such a decision," Stano told reporters.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani re-stated the country’s long-standing position that "we are not seeking to obtain the atomic bomb", saying it was a "mistake" for Europe and the United States to express concern that Iran could "enrich to 90 percent in one go".

Tehran says the enrichment move is a response to Israel’s "nuclear terrorism" after an explosion on Sunday knocked out power at its Natanz enrichment plant. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement, but public radio reports in the country said it was a sabotage operation by the Mossad spy agency, citing unnamed intelligence sources.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late on Wednesday that Washington was taking the "provocative announcement" on enrichment from Iran "very seriously". "I have to tell you the step calls into question Iran’s seriousness with regard to the nuclear talks," Blinken told reporters in Brussels.