The United States on Monday voiced alarm over Iranian production of uranium metal reported by the UN nuclear watchdog as it urged the clerical state to return to talks.

The State Department said the United States has seen the latest report to members by the International Atomic Energy Agency and believed that Iran "has no credible need to produce uranium metal."

Iran promised not to produce uranium metal, which can be used to build a nuclear bomb, as part of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) under which it was to scale back its nuclear program drastically in return for sanctions relief.

But Iran said earlier this year that it was researching uranium metal to provide advanced fuel for a research reactor -- one of a series of steps it took outside the JCPOA after former president Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal.

"We have made clear that continued nuclear escalations beyond JCPOA limits are unconstructive and inconsistent with a return to mutual compliance," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

"Iran should cease its nuclear escalations and return to negotiations toward full implementation of the JCPOA in good faith."

President Joe Biden favors a return to the deal, believing it peacefully manages a major concern with Iran, but indirect talks in Vienna brokered by the Europeans made no breakthrough with the US administration refusing to lift sanctions unrelated to the nuclear issue.

The talks have been at a standstill since the inauguration of Iran's new ultraconservative president, Ebrahim Raisi, although he says he supports efforts to lift US sanctions.

Iran ups uranium enrichment to 60 percent: watchdog
Vienna (AFP) Aug 17, 2021 - Iran has established a process to accelerate production of highly enriched uranium, the UN nuclear watchdog said Tuesday, with talks to save the 2015 nuclear deal at a standstill.

International Atomic Energy Agency director Rafael Grossi informed IAEA member states that Tehran was boosting such capacity at its Natanz enrichment plant.

The agency verified on Saturday that "Iran had configured a new operational mode for the production of UF6 enriched up to 60 percent U-235," Grossi said in a statement to AFP.

This involved using two centrifuge cascades compared to one previously, he added.

The move takes Iran closer to the 90 percent purity level needed for use in a nuclear weapon.

Tehran had started in mid-April to enrich uranium to 60 percent.

The Islamic republic has gradually rolled back its nuclear commitments since 2018, when then US president Donald Trump withdrew from a multilateral nuclear deal and began imposing sanctions.

The 2015 deal known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

Under the accord, Iran had committed to keep enrichment to 3.67 percent, though it had stepped this up to 20 percent in January.

Trump's successor Joe Biden said he hopes to revive the nuclear deal and indirect talks in Vienna, through European intermediaries, started in the Austrian capital in April.

But the talks broke up on June 20 without any discernible progress.

The EU said earlier this month that Iran is ready to resume talks under new president Ebrahim Raisi, and meetings could take place in Vienna from early September.

Meanwhile the United States on Monday urged Iran to return to the negotiations, voicing alarm over Iranian production of uranium metal reported by the UN nuclear watchdog.

According to the report presented by Grossi, Iran has made 200 grammes of the metal, after having announced such a project in July for research purposes.

The State Department said Washington believed Tehran "has no credible need to produce uranium metal".

Under the 2015 deal, Iran promised not to produce the metal, which can be used to build a nuclear bomb.

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CIA chief visits Israel amid Iran tensions
Jerusalem (AFP) Aug 10, 2021
US Central Intelligence Agency chief William Burns was due in Israel Tuesday for talks on common foe Iran, as rising tensions overshadow talks on restoring a landmark nuclear deal. A spokesman for Prime Minister Naftali Bennett gave no details of the agenda for the CIA chief's talks in Israel. But the Walla News website said he would discuss Iran's nuclear programme and its activities in the region with both Bennett and Israeli external intelligence chief David Barnea. Burns will also travel ... read more