European diplomats: differences over Iran's advanced centrifuges remain at Vienna talks

Negotiations in Austrian capital seek to resurrect 2015 nuclear deal Iran agreed with world powers

State-run TV shows three versions of domestically-built centrifuges from Natanz, an Iranian uranium enrichment plant. AP

European diplomats have said the advanced centrifuges which Iran is using to enrich uranium are still a crucial sticking point at negotiations in Vienna that seek to resurrect the 2015 nuclear deal Iran agreed with world powers.

Officials from France, Germany and the UK, known as the E3, said they still did not know whether Tehran would resume the talks where they left off in June, when a draft accord was 70-80 per cent complete. Since then, Iran has elected a new president, Ebrahim Raisi, and it has a new delegation head at the Vienna talks.

The diplomats said at a briefing there was urgency to reach a conclusion on reviving the pact, but they did not want to impose artificial deadlines, Reuters reported.

The 2015 accord was signed by Iran, the E3, China, Russia and the US.

Iran's envoy Ali Bagheri Kani has taken an ambiguous stance, suggesting that everything negotiated during the six rounds of talks between April and June remained open for discussion.

“What was discussed at the six previous rounds of talks in Vienna resulted in a draft and not an agreement. And a draft is subject to negotiations,” Bagheri Kani told reporters.

“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. So all the issues concluded in the previous rounds of talks can be negotiated and it was agreed by all parties to the deal.”

In 2018, former president Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, and he reintroduced heavy sanctions on the country.

Iran now enriches small amounts of uranium of up to 60 per cent purity — a short step from the weapons-grade level of 90 per cent. Iran also spins advanced centrifuges barred under the accord and its uranium stockpile now far exceeds formerly agreed limits.

US President Joe Biden has said America is willing to re-enter the deal, though the negotiations continue with US officials involved only remotely, as has been the case for previous rounds of talks since Washington’s withdrawal from the deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged his Iranian counterpart Mr Raisi to ensure Iran respects its 2015 nuclear deal obligations, after Tehran made a series of bold demands only a day into the talks aimed at salvaging the accord.

Hours after sitting down with international representatives in Vienna, Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator made demands which could prevent the 2015 agreement from being restored. These included assurances of protection against further US sanctions.

In a call to Mr Raisi late on Monday night, Mr Macron said France wanted both Iran and the US to return to the commitments laid out in the deal.

He also “underscored the need for Iran to engage constructively in this direction so that the exchanges allow a swift return to the agreement”, the French presidency said.

“Iran must return without delay to compliance with all its commitments and obligations … and quickly resume co-operation that allows the [UN atomic] agency to fully carry out its mission.”

Mr Raisi's office said he urged Mr Macron “to strive with other parties in Vienna to conclude the negotiations and lift the sanctions against Iran”.

“Sending a full team to the talks shows Iran's serious will in these talks,” Mr Raisi said.

“Those who have started to violate the nuclear deal must gain the confidence of the other party for the negotiations to proceed in a real and fruitful manner,” he said.