Iran will resume certain parts of its shuttered nuclear program in the wake of U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal but will not pull out of the deal entirely, Reuters reported, citing state media.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani plans to announce the scaling back of some “minor and general” commitments under the deal on Wednesday, which marks the anniversary of President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would exit the arrangement, according to the news service.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran in reaction to the exit of America from the nuclear deal and the bad promises of European countries in carrying out their obligations will restart a part of the nuclear activities which were stopped under the framework of the nuclear deal,” a source told the state-run IRIB news agency Monday, according to Reuters.
The details of what commitments the Iranian government plans to scale back are unclear, but a Wall Street Journal report quotes European diplomats who believe the nation may devote more research into centrifuges that could produce enriched uranium.
The report comes amid increasing tensions between the U.S. and Iran. On Sunday evening, national security adviser John Bolton announced the U.S. would deploy the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and a bomber task force “in response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings.”
“It is absolutely the case that we have seen escalatory actions from the Iranians and it is equally the case that we will hold the Iranians accountable for attacks on American interests,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday night to reporters en route to an Arctic Council meeting in Finland, according to Reuters.
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