Iran Says Progress Made in N-Talks But Key Issues Remain

Iran and six world powers have made significant progress in talks to revive their 2015 nuclear deal but important issues still need to be resolved, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.  Iran and the powers have negotiated in Vienna since April to work out steps that Tehran and Washington must take on sanctions and nuclear activities to return to full compliance with the nuclear pact. “Each round of talks in Vienna could have been the final round. We should not rush. We have made significant progress but key issues remain,” Saeed Khatibzadeh told a televised weekly news conference. “There is no stalemate in the talks.”

After former U.S. President Donald Trump ditched the deal three years ago and re-imposed sanctions on Iran, Tehran has been rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, enriching it to higher levels of fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up production.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator doubted that the talks would be the final round, and the delegations might need to return to their capitals for consultations. “The negotiations are very complex and we have now reached the main issues of dispute,” Abbas Araghchi, told state TV from Vienna.

Iran’s reversal of its various breaches of the deal, and its enrichment with advanced centrifuges and production of uranium metal, are some of the remaining issues, according to sources familiar with the talks. U.S. President Joe Biden has said Washington will return to the pact if Tehran first resumes compliance with its strict limits on uranium enrichment, a potential pathway to nuclear bombs.
“All sanctions should be lifted and then it should be verified by Iran ... then we will reverse our nuclear steps,” Khatibzadeh said.

Iran has failed to explain traces of uranium found at several undeclared sites, a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog showed on Monday, possibly setting up a fresh diplomatic clash between Tehran and the West that could derail wider nuclear talks. “After many months, Iran has not provided the necessary explanation for the presence of the nuclear material particles at any of the three locations where the Agency has conducted complementary accesses (inspections),” a report by Grossi to member states seen by Reuters said. “The Director General is concerned that the technical discussions between the Agency and Iran have not yielded the expected results,” the report said.

“The lack of progress in clarifying the Agency’s questions concerning the correctness and completeness of Iran’s safeguards declarations seriously affects the ability of the Agency to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme,” it added. In a separate quarterly report also sent to member states on Monday and seen by Reuters, the agency gave an indication of the damage done to Iran’s production of enriched uranium by an explosion and power cut at its Natanz site last month that Tehran has blamed on Israel. Iran’s quarterly increase in its stock of enriched uranium was the lowest since August 2019 at just 273 kg, bringing the total to 3,241 kg, according to an IAEA estimate. It was not able to fully verify the stock because Iran has downgraded cooperation. That total is many times the 202.8 kg limit set by the nuclear deal, but still well below the more than six tonnes Iran possessed before the deal.

In looking for a path back to the accord, Washington is tiptoeing through a minefield laid by Trump. Iran-related sanctions have been imposed on more than 700 entities and people, according to a Reuters tally of U.S. Treasury actions.

Iran demands all sanctions imposed under Trump - those tied to its nuclear program, and non-nuclear penalties such as those linked to terrorism, missile development and human rights - should be rolled back. “This is one of the key issues that has slowed down the talks. All sanctions, whether nuclear or non-nuclear, imposed by Trump should be lifted,” an Iranian official told Reuters.
Trump blacklisted about two dozen institutions vital to Iran’s economy, including its central bank and national oil company, using U.S. laws designed to punish foreign actors for supporting terrorism or weapons proliferation. His decision to blacklist Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), and its Quds Force foreign paramilitary and espionage arm, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization has also complicated matters. The IRGC also an industrial empire whose political influence is expected to grow after Iran’s June presidential election, when a hardline president close to the elite force is expected to win. - Reuters