Iran further reduces nuclear deal commitments

TEHRAN - Iran has started up advanced centrifuges to boost its stockpile of enriched uranium but will allow the UN atomic agency to continue monitoring its nuclear programme, a spokesman said Saturday.

The spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said the agency had activated 20 IR-4 and 20 IR-6 centrifuges as a third step in the Islamic republic's reduction of its commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal.

"The centrifuge machines, as they are engaged in research and development, will help with increasing the stockpile," spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said.

"The capacity of these machines is many times more than the previous machines. This started as of yesterday (Friday)," he told reporters.

But Kamalvandi said Iran would allow the UN atomic agency -- the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) -- to continue monitoring its nuclear programme, as it has done under the 2015 accord with major powers.

"Regarding the monitoring and accesses of the IAEA... so that everything is clear (Iran's) commitments regarding transparency will be followed as before," he said.

Iran and three European countries -- Britain, France and Germany -- have been engaged in talks to save a 2015 nuclear deal that has been unravelling since the US withdrew from it in May last year.

Iran had warned it would carry out a third round of cuts to its commitments unless other parties to the deal offset the effect of US sanctions in return for its continued compliance.

It has already hit back twice with countermeasures in response to the US withdrawal from the 2015 deal, which promised it relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

On July 1, Iran said it had increased its stockpile of enriched uranium to beyond the 300-kilogram maximum set by the deal.

A week later, it announced it had exceeded a 3.67-percent cap on the purity of its uranium stocks.

US response

"I'm not surprised that Iran has announced that it's going to violate the JCPOA," US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in Paris, using the official name of the accord signed in Vienna four years ago.

"They had been violating it, they had violated the nuclear non-proliferation treaty for many years, so it's no surprise that the Iranians are going to pursue what the Iranians have always intended to pursue," he added, following talks with his French counterpart Florence Parly.

Esper was in France after visits to London and Stuttgart, Germany, to meet with NATO allies since taking up his post in July.

Britain called Iran's move "particularly disappointing at a time when we and our European and international partners are working hard to de-escalate tensions".

Parly meanwhile reiterated France's calls for Tehran to "respect the Vienna accord", adding "we will continue with all our diplomatic efforts in this direction. We have to continue."

EU nations have been trying to ease tensions in the Gulf region since President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions that have hit the Iranian economy hard.

French President Emmanuel Macron has overseen recent talks between French and Iranian officials, and even secured a potential opening with Trump at last month's G7 summit, when he said he would be willing to meet with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani.

Esper said he had "productive discussions" with Parly, though neither indicated any progress had been made on de-escalating the conflict.

They also agreed to disagree on the US's new "maritime security mission" in the Gulf, aimed at ensuring open passage for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz after a series of incidents, including ship seizures by Iranian forces.

France has declined to join the US initiative and instead sought out like-minded partners for its own surveillance of the strategic waterway.

"The goal is to rally as many partners and means of surveillance as possible to improve security in the Gulf, and there's absolutely no competition between these initiatives," Parly said.

Esper said the US effort "is about deterring bad behaviour."

"Obviously our preference is that all countries join underneath this broader umbrella," he said.