Iran will maintain uranium enrichment at 20% even after nuclear agreement, says nuclear chief.

(Reuters)- Iran will continue to enrich uranium to 20% purity even after sanctions are lifted and the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers is resumed, Iranian news agencies quoted the country's nuclear chief as saying on Friday.

"Uranium enrichment continues with a maximum limit of 60%, which led the West to accelerate negotiations, and will continue, with the end of sanctions, at 20% and 5%," said the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami.

The 2015 agreement restricts the purity to which Iran can enrich uranium to 3,67%, well below the approximately 90% for weapons or the 20% the country achieved before the agreement. Iran is now enriching at various levels, the highest being around 60%.

Eslami did not detail or explain how 20% enrichment would be acceptable under the 2015 nuclear agreement, which Iran has been trying to revive through indirect talks with the United States.

Iranian officials told Reuters earlier that Iran has agreed to suspend its 20% and 60% enrichment if an agreement is reached in the Vienna negotiations to save the 2015 pact.

Separately, an Iranian cleric previously stated that ending Iran's economic isolation by lifting banking and oil trade sanctions was Tehran's most important demand in negotiations with world powers in the Austrian capital, Vienna.

Iran on Wednesday urged the West to be "realistic" in negotiations, as its chief negotiator returned to Tehran for what could be final consultations before a possible deal after months of indirect talks with the United States.

"Our negotiators are doing everything possible to safeguard the nation's interests and know that the ultimate goal is the lifting of all sanctions, especially on banks and trade," Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said during Friday prayers in Tehran.

"If these sanctions are not lifted, it's as if there are no negotiations," he told state media.

The general content of the sermons delivered during Friday prayers is determined by the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on Iran's nuclear policy and all other matters of state.

After 10 months of negotiations in Vienna, there was progress in restoring the pact to curb Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, but both Tehran and Washington warned that there are still some significant differences to overcome.

The majority of Iran's hardline parliament demanded in a letter last week that the United States guarantee it would not abandon a restored agreement. The assembly did not vote on the letter.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran showed flexibility in agreeing to "inherent guarantees" that the U.S. government will not back out of a deal, as Washington says it is impossible for President Joe Biden to provide the legal guarantees Iran has demanded.

Iran insists on the immediate removal of all sanctions imposed by former US President Donald Trump, in a verifiable process, including those imposed for terrorism or human rights violations.

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