Tehran-Iran said Tuesday it had stepped up uranium enrichment beyond the limits of its nuclear deal with world powers, amid heightened tensions with arch-foe the United States and after Iran seized a South Korean tanker in strategic Gulf waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Islamic republic said it was now refining uranium to 20 percent purity — far above the level permitted under its 2015 agreement, but significantly below the 90 percent required for an atomic bomb — in a step Washington condemned as \u201cnuclear extortion\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The European Union noted Iran\u2019s steps \u201cwith deep concern\u201d and planned to \u201credouble our efforts to preserve the agreement and return to its full implementation by all parties,\u201d said EU spokesman Peter Stano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the most striking suspension yet of Tehran\u2019s commitments under its landmark deal with six nations, which has been fraying ever since US President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A war of words has flared again in the final weeks of the Trump presidency and at a time when Iran and its allies have marked one year since a US drone strike in Baghdad killed Iran\u2019s most revered military commander, Qasem Soleimani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commemorations honouring Soleimani — whom the US blamed for attacks on its interests in Iraq and elsewhere — saw angry mourners in Iraq chant anti-US slogans, but passed off without violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Not hostage-takers\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Washington has meanwhile reversed an order to bring home its Nimitz aircraft carrier from the Gulf, citing \u201cthreats\u201d against Trump, after recently also flying B-52 bombers over the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned it is ready to respond to any attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Iranian armed forces Monday also announced a two-day drill of domestically made drones, including \u201ccombat, surveillance, reconnaissance and electronic warfare\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, the Guards launched a dramatic action on the high seas, near the strategic Straits of Hormuz, a chokepoint through which a fifth of world oil output passes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its speedboats seized the South Korean-flagged Hankuk Chemi carrying oil chemical products and its multinational crew of 20, accusing it of having polluted sea waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Korea has demanded the ship\u2019s release and deployed a destroyer carrying its anti-piracy unit to the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seoul will send a government delegation to Iran \u201cat the earliest possible date\u201d to negotiate the release of the vessel and its crew, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran\u2019s move came after Tehran had urged Seoul to release billions of dollars of Iranian assets frozen in South Korea as part of the US sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are not hostage-takers,\u201d said Iran\u2019s government spokesman Ali Rabiei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are used to such allegations… It is the government of Korea that has taken over $7 billion of ours hostage on baseless grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Korea\u2019s vice foreign minister Choi Jong-kun would go ahead with a planned three-day trip to Tehran early next week, his office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Nuclear tensions –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also on Monday, Iran first announced it had stepped up the uranium enrichment process at its underground Fordo site, in a move confirmed by UN nuclear watchdog the IAEA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Hassan Rouhani had ordered the move in line with a law passed by the parliament, said a government spokesman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The legislature voted for the step after the November killing on the outskirts of Tehran of the country\u2019s top nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an assassination Iran blamed on Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday charged Iran\u2019s latest nuclear move proved it is seeking to build an atomic bomb — a claim Iran has always strongly denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIsrael will not allow Iran to manufacture nuclear weapons,\u201d Netanyahu said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tehran-Iran said Tuesday it had stepped up uranium enrichment beyond the limits of its nuclear deal with world powers, amid heightened tensions with arch-foe the United States and after Iran seized a South Korean tanker in strategic Gulf waters. The Islamic republic said it was […]<\/p>\n
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