Iran’s leading leader said on Wednesday that his country would continue to negotiate with the world powers on how to save the 2015 nuclear deal, and the speculation that Iran’s delegation would boycott or stop participating in protests against the apparent Israeli sabotage of a important uranium enrichment area.
The statement by top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word on security issues in the country of 80 million, comes three days after an explosive blast at the Natanz enrichment site plunged the heavily guarded facility into an eclipse and destroyed or destroyed it. is. hundreds of underground centrifuges used to process uranium into fuel.
The suspicion of destruction immediately came upon Israel, which had previously sabotaged the Natanz site. Israel did not confirm or deny the accusation, but intelligence officials said it was a secret Israeli operation.
Furious and embarrassed about such a security collapse, Iran on Tuesday promised to triple its purity of uranium enrichment – the most brutal deviation yet from its obligations under the nuclear deal.
But the remarks of Mr. Khamenei on Wednesday showed that he did not want to abandon the negotiations to save the deal, which promised Iran relief from heavy economic sanctions imposed by the United States if Iran’s nuclear activities were curtailed.
“Officials have determined that we are negotiating to achieve our policy,” he said. Khamenei said during a speech reported by the Iranian media in celebration of the first day of the Ramadan holiday.
“We have no problem with this, provided they are careful that the negotiations do not wear out and that the parties do not drag out the negotiations, because it will not benefit the country,” he said. Khamenei said.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who was ambiguous about whether Iran would walk away from the negotiations, said at a televised cabinet meeting that “the Supreme Leader has clearly defined the framework of our negotiations and we will continue within the framework.”
The European Union, which oversees diplomatic talks in Vienna, also said they would resume on Thursday at 12:30 local time.
The talks, which began earlier this month and were suspended last Friday, are intended to map out a plan for the return of Iran and the United States to compliance with the agreement.
It has been plagued by the collapse since President Donald J. Trump abruptly withdrew from the United States three years ago, restored economic sanctions and introduced new sanctions as part of a “maximum pressure” strategy aimed at Iran force to agree to more restrictive provisions.
Israel, which sees Iran as an existential threat, called the decision by Mr. Trump supported and expressed anger over the Biden government’s intention to revive the agreement, arguing that it was weak and would not prevent Iranian leaders from militarizing their nuclear capability. Iran has repeatedly said its nuclear energy program is peaceful.
But Iran responded to the Natanz eclipse with a reported attack on an Israeli ship, which reportedly caused only minor damage and no deaths, and then announced its plan to enrich uranium to 60 percent pure, from 20 percent, which is a big step closer to the 90 percent level that can be used to fire a nuclear weapon.
Iran began to waive promises to limit its enriched uranium supply under the 2015 nuclear deal, after the Trump administration gave up US participation.
Iranian officials also said the country plans to replace centrifuges at Natanz with more modern ones banned under the original nuclear deal. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear monitoring arm in Vienna, said about Twitter that process may begin soon.
An Iranian parliamentary delegation visited Natanz on Wednesday, and one lawmaker said the wreckage was less extensive than due to arson there last July. The legislator, Vahid Jalalzadeh, said on the clubhouse’s club website that some underground tunnels were damaged, but that part of the plant had power and that centrifuges were working. There was no way to confirm his assessment, which differed from earlier reports of large-scale downfall.
Mr. Jalalzadeh also said that Israel had recruited spies into Iran’s intelligence apparatus and that the identity and location of a suspected saboteur had been discovered, but that he could not disclose it. He did not explain why.
Iran has said that all its deviations from compliance with the nuclear deal could be reversed easily and quickly when the United States repeals its sanctions.
In recent years, Israel has carried out a series of raids and attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear scientists and its uranium enrichment facilities.
Although US and Israeli governments have previously worked together to counter what they see as Iran’s militaristic core ambitions, Washington has denied any role in Sunday’s eclipse.
The foreign ministries of Germany, France and Britain on Wednesday issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s uranium enrichment intentions, saying it “rejects all escalation measures by any actor.”
Iran and the United States did not negotiate directly in the talks in Vienna. Instead, the other participants in the 2015 agreement – Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia – act as intermediaries.
According to senior diplomats, the first round of talks adjourned last week was constructive. Two working groups were formed to discuss sanctions and uranium enrichment, both of which have the task of bringing the United States and Iran back into line with the 2015 agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Steven Erlanger and Rick Gladstone reported.