Talks resume amid sabotage shadow

Talks to save the Iran nuclear deal resumed in Vienna yesterday amid new tensions, with Tehran preparing to ramp up uranium enrichment in response to an attack on a facility it blamed on arch-foe Israel. 

After a positive first round of negotiations aimed at resurrecting the 2015 agreement scuttled by Donald Trump, Iran's push towards enrichment levels needed for military use "puts pressure on everyone," a European diplomat told AFP.

Tehran says the move is a response to Israel's "nuclear terrorism" after an explosion on Sunday knocked out power at its Natanz enrichment plant.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement but public radio reports in the country said it was a sabotage operation by the Mossad spy agency, citing unnamed intelligence sources.

Ahead of the talks, President Rouhani on  Wednesday sought to allay Western concerns over his country's decision  to enrich uranium to 60 percent purity, saying the Islamic republic's  nuclear programme is "peaceful".

Rouhani said in televised remarks that it was a "mistake" for Europe  and the United States to express concerns that the move "means we can  enrich to 90 percent in one go".

"Today, we can enrich to 90 percent if we want to. But we have  declared it from day one and we're keeping our word: our nuclear  activities are peaceful; we are not seeking to obtain the atomic bomb,"he said.