Informed source tells Press TV: Only removal of sanctions will save Vienna talks

An informed source tells Press TV that only the removal of all sanctions together against Iran will save the Vienna talks.

“It is not acceptable to Iran to divide the sanctions into removable, non-removable and negotiable,” the source said on Saturday.    

“In Tehran, nothing will be accepted but the removal of all sanctions, including those related to the JCPOA, reimposed and relabeled during the Trump era,” the source added.   

The source also said the recent European sanctions against Iran's military commanders are “a gross violation” of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and should be stopped.

Iran and the remaining signatories to 2015 nuclear deal are meeting in Vienna to try to remove the unilateral US sanctions imposed by former president Donald Trump three years ago after he abandoned the international accord.

The talks will carry on for several days before breaking so that Iranian and US officials can return home for consultations, a European Union official said on Friday.

The US is not allowed to participate in the discussions, but its representatives are reportedly held abreast of the negotiations down the hall by the Europeans.

The new talks come after a “terrorist” attack earlier this week on Iran’s uranium enrichment facility in Nantanz which put a number of the country’s first generation machines out of order.     

Both the US and the Europeans have kept silent on the attack and instead expressed concerns over Iran's 60-percent enrichment which the country launched for the first time right after the sabotage.   

In a surprise move, the European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on eight Iranians, including head of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), raising the ante in hostile measures against Tehran.

Iran's chief negotiator Abbas Araqchi told Press TV on Thursday that the EU sanctions are meant to undermine the negotiations.

“The Europeans not only ignored this important act of sabotage, but also they were busy imposing new sanctions on Iran and that was totally unacceptable,” he said in Vienna.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has also said the perpetrators of the sabotage are wrong to think the act will undermine Iran’s position in Vienna negotiations.

“Incidentally, this cowardly act will strengthen our position in the negotiations,” Zarif said on Monday.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi said on Friday Iranian scientists had produced the country’s first batch of 60-percent enriched uranium in Natanz.

He said the 60-percent enrichment was completed in two days. “Production of 60-percent enriched uranium is currently 9 grams per hour,” Salehi said, adding any level of enrichment is now possible for Iran.  

The act of sabotage came a day after Iran began feeding gas to cascades of new, advanced centrifuges and unveiled 133 achievements to mark its national nuclear technology day.

Iranian officials have said while the aim of the attack was apparently to limit Iran's nuclear capability, all the centrifuges that went out of order due to the incident were of the IR1 type that are being replaced with more advanced ones. 

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