Iran can create highly enriched uranium in 'two to three days': official

Iran is able to create highly enriched uranium in “two to three days,” a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of the Islamic Republic said on Sunday, amid ongoing negotiations to save the 2015 nuclear deal after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal on May 8.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, who is the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, was interviewed by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting on Sunday, saying Iranian officials should be prepared to resume nuclear activities.

For the first time since the accord came into force in 2015, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany met -- at Iran's request -- without the United States in Vienna on Friday, in a bid to save the agreement, as Iran warned the deal had been put "in intensive care" by Washington's dramatic withdrawal earlier this month.

After the meeting, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said “We are negotiating… to see if they can provide us with a package which can give Iran the benefits of sanctions lifting.”

Araghchi said that practical solutions” were required to solve Iran’s concerns over oil flow and foreign investment.  

“The next step is to find guarantees for that package,” he said.

The negotiations between Iran and the remaining signatories to the nuclear deal will continue over the next few weeks “particularly at an expert level,” Araghchi said.

“We got the sense that Europeans, Russia and China… are serious and they recognize that JCPOA’s (Iran nuclear deal) survival depends on the interests of Iran being respected,” Araghchi added.

Speaking at the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum on Friday, Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin hinted that the nuclear deal can still be saved.

“The US president is not closing the door on negotiations. I think that all is not yet lost” he added.

Last week, a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) showed that Iran is abiding by the deal's key restrictions on its nuclear facilities in return for relief from damaging economic sanctions.

The IAEA also urged Iran to stick with the accord and even go beyond its legal obligations so as to boost international confidence in Tehran's commitments.

A senior diplomat at IAEA headquarters said this was not prompted by any lack of co-operation or change of behavior on Iran's part.

The IAEA is "encouraging (Iran)  to go above and beyond the requirements" of the deal in order to boost confidence, the diplomat said, adding that Tehran could for example invite inspectors to sites they had not demanded access to.