The Head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi Friday confirmed that Iran has begun uranium enrichment up to 60 percent as talks in Vienna continued over the revival of the 2015 nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, (JCPOA).

Salehi announced that Iran was enriching 9 grams of uranium to 60 percent every hour. This means that Iran can have around 6.5 kilograms of the highly enriched fissile material in one month. It would be easy and relatively fast for Iran to increase enrichment to above 90 percent and have enough fissile material for a bomb in a matter of months.

Iran Deputy Foreign Minister and nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that nuclear talks in Vienna were "on a good track" but warned that European participants of the 2015 nuclear agreement had "undermined the talks" by imposing new human-rights sanctions on Iran. 

“I cannot say that I am optimistic, but I think we are on a good track, although we had the negative impacts of last days’ developments and we have to somehow manage that,” Araghchi told Iran’s English-language, Press TV, after the meeting of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA in Vienna.

Araghchi said that the new EU sanctions "right in the middle of negotiations" were JCPOA-related and meant to undermine the talks. The sanctions targeted eight Iranian militia commanders, police chiefs and three prisons over the suppression of protests over two years ago.

Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA – China, France, Germany, Russia and the UK – on Thursday continued talks in Vienna which began earlier this month with the aim of restoring the JCPOA. Talks continue at expert-level in Vienna on Friday.

Araghchi said a list of sanctions to be lifted was required, a task assigned to one expert group due to report back to the Joint Commission. A second expert group is identifying steps in the Iranian nuclear program that exceed JCPOA limits.

Meanwhile, Foreign Policy quoted sources(link is external) close to European and US negotiators that the US chief negotiator Robert Malley would offer Tehran a "Goldilocks-style deal" offering Iran enough sanctions relief to return to the deal but not leave President Joe Biden vulnerable to attack critics at home.

The 2015 deal was undermined when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018 and imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Iran. Since 2019 Iran has taken steps in its nuclear activities beyond JCPOA limits, including 20 percent enrichment and this week, in response to an apparent bombing of the Natanz nuclear site widely attributed to Israel, a decision to enrich to 60 percent.

While US intelligence officials were reported claiming the explosion had set back Iran’s nuclear program by six to nine months, Iran announced it was already beginning enrichment to 60 percent at Natanz, rather than at Ferdow, where enrichment to 20 percent was achieved in January. Iran insists that only after the US lifts all JCPOA-related sanctions will it return to its commitments under the deal.  

Araghchi told Press TV that there had been "very tough exchanges of views" at the Thursday session but added that there was "common interest" to move forward. He argued a conclusion was needed "as soon as possible," echoing a call the same say from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that the talks not become "attritional.”

"With this understanding, the joint commission decided to mandate the two working groups on the nuclear and sanctions-lifting [parts] to re-start the job this afternoon and try to make a concrete, specified list of measures to be taken by Iran and the US," Araghchi said.

Araghchi added that such sanctions should include those slapped on third parties sanctioned by the US because of their cooperation with Iran as well as all  Trump's imposed, re-imposed and relabelled sanctions(link is external), which Trump officials said were designed to complicate the challenge facing the Biden administration in reviving the JCPOA.