Officially, talks held over the weekend in Vienna were held between Iran and the countries still party to the 2015 nuclear deal, but a majority of efforts there were invested in European efforts to mediate between Tehran and Washington and find a path to full compliance with the accord.
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The ongoing talks have taken place against the background of the "mysterious mishap" at the Iranian nuclear facility in Natanz, which led to accusations Israel was behind the act. Tehran said it would exact revenge for the incident that it referred to as "nuclear terrorism."
While officials had said thousands of centrifuges had been damaged in the event, this week, Iranian lawmaker Alireza Zakani revealed that 150 kilograms of explosives had been placed inside the nuclear facility ahead of the explosion, which shut down the electrical system there.
Following the incident, Tehran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency it planned to ramp up uranium enrichment to 60%.
According to former IAEA Deputy Director-General for Safurgards Olli Heinonen, who is now a distinguished fellow at the Washington-based Stimson Center: "There is no civilian plan for this kind of enrichment."
Speaking to Israel Hayom, Heinonen said, "A sudden power cut sends centrifuges to an uncontrolled stop destroying many of them. Resulting shrapnel and dust damages valves and cascade pipework requiring extensive cleaning and in some cases replacement, which will take several months.
"There are also reports that not only the electric cabling but also subsystems distributing electric power and its backup were damaged. These are likely not from the shelf products, which require separate manufacturing.
He said, "Iranian media states that the IR-1 centrifuges got badly damaged. In that case, It might be attractive for Iran to just leave them for the time being as they are, and install more advanced centrifuges, if available. For example, 1500 newly installed IR-2ms, if available, is sufficient to restore enrichment capacity back to what it was before the damage. Depending on the availability of equipment needed, that should be achievable in a few months' time.
"There are also statements that Iran wants to increase enrichment to 60 %. There is no programmatic peaceful need for such an enrichment level." Heinonen said.
On Thursday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gave a televised speech in which he said, "If we want, we could enrich uranium to 90%, but we aren't looking for a nuclear bomb.
"If the sides go back to honoring the nuclear deal, our enrichment level won't surpass 3.67%."
In a statement, Iran's Foreign Ministry said the team it had dispatched to Vienna was disappointed by the Europeans' "weak reaction" to the incident at Natanz. According to a Western diplomat, Iran's recent violations of the accord could not be ignored, in particular given the desire to reach a breakthrough before June 18, when Iranians are set to vote in presidential elections.
"The severity of Iran's decisions harm the process and increase tensions," the diplomat said.
On the Israeli side, Mossad intelligence agency director Yossi Cohen and National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat are expected to fly to the US separately in the coming weeks to speak with their American counterparts and other senior officials about Iran.
At an event marking Israel's Memorial Day in New York, Wednesday, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke out against US President Joe Biden's administration's conciliatory tone toward Iran.
He said Israel had a right to defend itself, and that as a force for good, the US could not allow a return to a situation in which the Jews are under threat as a result of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.
In closed talks, Pompeo said the money and resources Iran was set to receive if the US rolled back sanctions would allow Tehran to spread unprecedented levels of violence and terror.
As for former US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and the forging of the Abraham Accords, Pompeo said these were not politically motivated moves. The US took these actions because it was the right thing to do and it served American interests, he said.
Israel Hayom publisher Dr. Miriam Edelson also spoke at the Memorial Day event, one of the first in-person Jewish events to be held in Manhattan since the latest lockdown there was eased. In her remarks, Edelson praised Pompeo for his support for Israel and noted her late husband, Sheldon Edelson, who passed away four months ago, had also appreciated the former secretary of state.
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