An emergency meeting with parties to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with major powers was "constructive", Iranian official Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday, but said Tehran would continue to reduce its nuclear commitments if Europeans failed to salvage the pact.
"The atmosphere was constructive. Discussions were good. I cannot say that we resolved everything, I can say there are lots of commitments," Araghchi , the senior Iranian nuclear negotiator, told Reuters.
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Parties to the deal met in Vienna on Sunday for emergency talks called in response to an escalation in tensions between Iran and the West that included confrontations at sea and Tehran's breaches of the accord.
"As we have said, we will continue to reduce our commitments to the deal until Europeans secure Iran's interests under the deal," Araqchi said after the meeting.
Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran have been trying to salvage the pact since the United States withdrew from it in May 2018 and reimposed and toughened sanctions on Iran, crippling an already weak economy.
However, their efforts to protect trade with Iran against the US sanctions have yielded nothing concrete so far. Earlier this month, Tehran followed through on its threat to increase its nuclear activities in breach of the agreement.
Iran has called on Europe to accelerate its efforts.
"All our steps taken so far are reversible if other parties to the deal fulfill their commitments," an Iranian diplomat told Reuters before the meeting was due to start.
So far, Iran has breached the limit of its enriched uranium stockpile as well as enriching uranium beyond a 3.67% purity limit set by its deal with major powers, defying a warning by Europeans to stick to the deal despite U.S. sanctions.
The meeting in Vienna comes after Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards seized a British-flagged oil tanker on July 19, two weeks after British forces captured an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar which it said was violating sanctions on Syria.
Araghchi said Britain's seizure of the Iranian oil tanker was a violation of the nuclear pact.
Britain said on Sunday Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duncan had arrived in the Gulf to join a British frigate escorting British-flagged ships through the Strait.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that the presence of additional foreign forces in the region could lead to further tension in the Gulf. Rouhani made this statement after a meeting with Oman's foreign minister in Tehran, according to the official presidency website.
"The presence of foreign forces will not only not help the security of the region, but will be the main factor for tension," Rouhani said, saying Iran and Oman had primary responsibility for securing the Strait of Hormuz.
"The roots of the unpleasant events and tension in the region today are the unilateral withdrawal of America (from the 2015 nuclear deal)," Rouhani continued.
The US has recently increased its presence in the region, and the UK has recently announced that another warship was heading to the Persian Gulf. Last week, France, Italy and Denmark reportedly gave initial support for a British plan for a European-led naval mission to ensure safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
