'Nuclear blackmail'? Restrictions in Iran deal remain unclear.
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| Tehran, Iran
Iran struck a hard line Tuesday after just one day of restarted talks in Vienna over its tattered nuclear deal, suggesting everything discussed in previous rounds of diplomacy could be renegotiated.
Speaking to Iranian state television, Ali Bagheri, Iran鈥檚 top nuclear negotiator, referred to everything discussed thus far as merely a 鈥渄raft.鈥 It remained unclear whether that represented an opening gambit by Iran鈥檚 new president or signaled serious trouble for those hoping to restore the 2015 deal that saw Tehran strictly limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
The United States left the deal under then-President Donald Trump鈥檚 鈥渕aximum pressure鈥 campaign against Tehran in 2018. Since the deal鈥檚 collapse, Iran now enriches small amounts of uranium up to 60% purity 鈥 a short step from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran also spins advanced centrifuges barred by the accord, and its uranium stockpile now far exceeds the accord鈥檚 limits.
President Joe Biden has said the U.S. is willing to re-enter the deal, though the negotiations continue with U.S. officials not in the room as in previous rounds of talks since Washington鈥檚 withdrawal.
鈥淒rafts are subject to negotiation. Therefore nothing is agreed on unless everything has been agreed on,鈥 Mr. Bagheri said. 鈥淥n that basis, all discussions that took place in the six rounds are summarized and are subject to negotiations. This was admitted by all parties in today鈥檚 meeting as well.鈥
That directly contradicted comments Monday by the European Union diplomat leading the talks.
鈥淭he Iranian delegation represents a new administration in Tehran with new understandable political sensibilities, but they have accepted that the work done over the six first rounds is a good basis to build our work ahead, so no point in going back,鈥 said聽Spanish Diplomat Enrique Mora.
Another state TV segment saw Mr. Bagheri in Vienna saying Iran demanded a 鈥済uarantee by America not to impose new sanctions鈥 or not re-impose previously lifted sanctions.
Mohammed Eslami, the country鈥檚 civilian nuclear chief, reiterated that demand in comments to Iran鈥檚 state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.
鈥淭he talks [in Vienna] are about return of the U.S. to the deal and they have to lift all sanctions and this should be in practice and verifiable,鈥 he said. He did not elaborate.
The U.S. has imposed a slew of sanctions on Iran since the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Some eventually directly dealt with the country鈥檚 nuclear program, while others targeted Tehran for what Washington describes as destabilizing actions in the Mideast.
Under the 2015 nuclear deal, the U.S. lifted nuclear sanctions, which returned when Washington pulled out of the accord.
Iran maintains its atomic program is peaceful. However, U.S. intelligence agencies and international inspectors say Iran had an organized nuclear weapons program up until 2003. Nonproliferation experts fear any brinkmanship could push Tehran toward even more extreme measures to try to force the West to lift sanctions.
Making matters more difficult, United Nations nuclear inspectors remain unable to fully monitor Iran鈥檚 program after Tehran limited their access. A trip to Iran last week by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, failed to make any progress on that issue.
Talks in Vienna aimed at re-imposing curbs on Iran鈥檚 nuclear program resumed Monday after a more than five-month hiatus as hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi took power. Mr. Raisi, a prot茅g茅 of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, campaigned on getting sanctions lifted.
However, fellow hard-liners within Iran鈥檚 theocracy long have criticized the nuclear deal as giving too much away to the West.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia鈥檚 top representative to the talks, tweeted Tuesday that the resumption of negotiations was 鈥渜uite successful.鈥
鈥淧articipants decided to continue without delay the drafting process in two working groups 鈥 on sanctions lifting and nuclear issues,鈥 he wrote. 鈥淭his work starts immediately.鈥
Israel, Iran鈥檚 regional, nuclear-armed rival, kept up its own pressure amid the negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, in a video address delivered to nations negotiating in Vienna, warned that he saw Iran trying to 鈥渆nd sanctions in exchange for almost nothing.鈥
鈥淚ran deserves no rewards, no bargain deals, and no sanctions relief in return for their brutality,鈥 Mr. Bennett said in the video that he later posted to Twitter. 鈥淚 call upon our allies around the world: Do not give in to Iran鈥檚 nuclear blackmail.鈥
This story was reported by The Associated Press.聽AP writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.