Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has called on Iran to "show restraint" after UN inspectors confirmed that the country has begun producing small amounts of uranium metal in the latest breach of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

"We understand the logic of their actions and the reasons prompting Iran. Despite this, it is necessary to show restraint and a responsible approach," Ryabkov said on February 11, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.

A total of 3.6 grams of uranium metal have been produced by the Iranians at a nuclear facility in Isfahan, accoding to director-general Rafael Grossi of the UN’s atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Although the amount of the uranium metal is small and not enriched, it could theoretically be put to use in forming the core of a nuclear weapon.

The nuclear deal (formally the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) was brought in to ensure Iran keeps its nuclear development programme entirely civilian in nature in return for a shield against heavy sanctions. But that shield was essentially removed in May 2018 when then US president Donald Trump decided to pursue his Iran policy objectives by unilaterally withdrawing Washington from the multilateral JCPOA and hitting the Islamic Republic with sanctions unprecedented in their scope and weight. With the European signatories of the JCPOA—the UK, France and Germany—failing to defend Iran against the Trump sanctions in any meaningful way, Tehran opted to gradually breach the accord to up the pressure for assistance.

Joe Biden, who took over as US president in late January, has said he will take the Americans back into the nuclear deal should Iran demonstrate it has returned to full compliance with it. But the Iranians say the US should lift the sanctions prior to Tehran going back into such compliance, given that it was the US that pulled out of the deal at a point in time when the IAEA said its compliance was entirely intact.

The nuclear agreement—also signed by China and Russia—put a 15-year ban on Iran "producing or acquiring plutonium or uranium metals or their alloys".

Germany, France, and Britain have stated that they are "deeply concerned" by the uranium metal development, stating: "Iran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal. The production of uranium metal has potentially grave military implications."

"We continue to urge Tehran to resume full compliance [with the JCPOA] because that, for us, would open up the pathway for diplomacy," US State Department spokesman Ned Price told a press briefing on February 10.

Biden ‘continuing Trump policies’

However, on February 11, the Guardian published an interview with the only declared candidate in the presidential election to be held in Iran this June, Hossein Dehghan, in which Dehgan accused Biden of continuing Trump’s foreign policies, and warned that Tehran is preparing retaliatory measures to force the US to change its diplomatic trajectory.

Dehghan, a military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander, said Washington was not in a position to set preconditions for Iran’s return to the JCPOA, and called for guarantees that the US would not leave the agreement again if it rejoined.

“The Biden administration talked about diplomacy, multilateralism and interaction in the international arena as well as returning to its international commitments. However, we still see the same policies from the newly elected administration as we did from the Trump team: not lifting the oppressive sanctions against Iranian people, continuing to block Iran oil revenue in foreign banks while we need the money to fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Altogether this means the continuation of Trumpism in international relations,” he was quoted as saying.

He said Iran would seek to change the course of diplomacy from February 19—the date it has set to cut back some access for UN weapons inspectors to its nuclear sites. He also said Iran would demand damages from the US for the impact of sanctions.

He added: “The Americans’ approach has made our nation not trust them. Therefore, we want to receive guarantees that the Americans will not infringe the agreement again. The Americans are not in the position to set up conditions for their return to the negotiating table. They violated the agreement, so in order for them to return to negotiation, they must first lift unilateral and illegal sanctions against Iran and fulfil their commitments. Then we will have the opportunity to negotiate the issues as regards the damages and the expenses due to America leaving the JCPOA.”

Asked if he could foresee Iran building better relations with its regional arch-rival Saudi Arabia, Dehghan quoted the 19th-century British prime minister Lord Palmerston, saying: “We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.”