Iran taking new steps to remove itself from nuclear deal

Iran announced plans to take additional steps away from the 2015 nuclear deal, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saturday, in an attempt to win protections from the Trump administration’s sanctions.

“The third step in reducing commitments to [the nuclear deal] will be implemented in the current situation,” Zarif told ICANA, an official Iranian news agency. He did not specify the nation’s next nuclear moves.

Last month, Iran threatened to restart deactivated centrifuges and ramp up enrichment of uranium — deliberate violations of the JCPOA pact — unless the agreement’s other signatories, including Russia, China, and Great Britain, help prop up its struggling economy.

President Trump pulled out of the deal and began a program of crippling sanctions last year.

Zarif’s announcement came days after the US set down new sanctions on the Foreign Minister himself, restricting him from accessing any American property — a move that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called “childish.”

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