With less than two weeks to go before nuclear talks between Iran and western powers are slated to restart in Vienna, the Iranian regime appears to have stepped up its production of sensitive equipment, in particular components of centrifuges, US officials have told the Wall Street Journal.

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According to the WSJ report, unidentified diplomats familiar with Tehran's activities have claimed that the Karaj facility – located some 50 km. (31 miles) northwest of Tehran – restarted activity in August, and operations have since ramped up.

Until recently, the Karaj site was under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, but that oversight was stopped after an explosion that Iran attributed to Israel damaged some of the equipment that was being used to document activity at the location.

The sources expressed concern that Iran could divert advanced centrifuges to undeclared sites to move closer to a nuclear weapon.

One diplomat suggested that enough parts for 170 centrifuges have been produced since the facility reopened.

Since the renewal of production, Iran has refused to allow IAEA inspectors access to the site, the WSJ reported.

In September, Iran acknowledged that it removed surveillance cameras installed by nuclear inspectors.

While there is reportedly no evidence that Iran is planning to move the centrifuge parts into a weapons program, one sourced diplomat suggested that "as the number of unmonitored centrifuges increases, the likelihood for this scenario increases."

i24NEWS contributed to this report

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French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed there is "a window of opportunity" now for talks aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the French presidency said.

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The three leaders, who spoke via videoconference on Monday, agreed on the need to move negotiations forward in order to get a deal "as soon as possible" and avoid the risk of nuclear proliferation, a French top official said.

"We must do it now" in order to avoid further threats to regional stability, the official said, adding the message aims at giving a boost to negotiators after months of inconclusive talks.

During six rounds of talks in Vienna, the six countries that remain parties to the agreement –Russia, China, Germany, France, Britain and Iran – have been trying to resolve issues on how the United States can rejoin and how Iran can return to compliance.

Former President Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018, but President Joe Biden repudiated his predecessor and said the US wants to return to the pact.

The last round of talks ended in Vienna on June 20. It's not yet clear when the talks will resume.

The 2015 accord is aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, which Tehran denies it is seeking.

France and Germany said the three leaders also talked about relations between the European Union and China. They discussed international trade, climate protection and biodiversity, and cooperation in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

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"Hundreds of people spent months tracking many different individuals and did the inconceivable," Cohen said at the conference at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.

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"A lot of people in the Mossad were working on this for a long time. When the operation was at its height, after a number of sleepless nights, we received reports that there were [computer] discs and not only documents. We gave orders to bring them in, too, even though it made it more complicated.

"In total, [there were] 55,000 documents, pictures, and videos that helped expose the big Iranian lie. The operation proved that the impossible – the impossible and inconceivable – was conceivable," Cohen said.

"The operation changed the world's attitude toward Iran," Cohen added.

Cohen also addressed a number of other regional issues, including Israeli relations with Arab countries. Cohen noted that while Israel had official diplomatic ties with two Arab countries, more Arab nations were "joining that important circle," with whom Israel was cooperating at various levels.

"They are looking for realistic solutions to regional conflicts. The Mossad can contribute to making peace. I can reveal that to bolster our ability in the field of peacemaking, we established a directorate to improve Israel's diplomatic standing. The goal is to reach an inclusive peace agreement."

Cohen said that Arab nations were unwilling to accept Iran's "bullying behavior."

"Iran is seeking to destroy us. It's hard to understand why. You can't say Iran is innocent or well-intentioned," he said.

According to Cohen, the Mossad and the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate "helped every time Iranian activities were exposed in countries all around the world, saving lives.

"We do it quietly, and wisely. Iran is stepping up its uranium enrichment. There is nothing innocent in its policies. The claim that it is being done for use in energy production is a total lie. If Iran had fissile material, the region and the world as a whole would look different. The Mossad didn't sign the [2015] nuclear deal, it has a contract with the citizens of Israel, which promises that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. The IAEA and international intelligence agencies received the original documents from the nuclear archive to see for themselves."

"Thanks to the raid in the heart of Tehran, we are keeping Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. It's not the nuclear deal it's the determination to stand up to Iran in every way possible that is standing between Iran and a nuclear bomb," he said.

Touching on Iranian proxy Hezbollah and Lebanon, Cohen called the "land of cedars" a land that "has been taken over by a terrorist organization. In a war, it could be harmed by Israel's defensive measures."

Cohen also said that an opportunity was opening for Israel to "solve the conflict with the Palestinians or at least make progress on it."

He told the audience that in the past few years, the Mossad has been working to locate the grave of [Israeli spy] Eli Cohen – our man in Damascus. "We are committed to bringing all our missing and captive home," he said.

Cohen called the Mossad a "microcosm of Israeli society."

"The Mossad needs to reflect the values of social sensitivity and compassion for the weak. Our strength lies in our diversity. That has operational importance, but also moral power. We need women in every role at every level. I hope that in the future, we will see a female head of the Mossad. Forty percent of the people serving in the Mossad are women. We have also started integrating haredim and people with disabilities."

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