The Iranian government said it had resumed its Uranium enrichment programme at an underground nuclear facility, taking its levels up to 20%, in breach of terms set out in the 2015 nuclear deal.
Britain said it was “deeply concerned” by Tehran’s decision to enrich Uranium beyond the set levels, and that the move would likely strain relations with the U.S., placing any chance of reviving diplomatic talks at risk. The same warning was issued by France and Germany, who are also signatories to the nuclear deal.
Iran’s government issued a second warrant with Interpol requesting the arrest of outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump and 47 other U.S. officials for the assassination of former Quds Force commander General Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani was killed during a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad, in January of last year. Interpol denied the first request, which was made in June.
Iraq also issued an arrest warrant for Trump, through a court in Baghdad, for the death of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq’s largely pro-Iran Hashed al-Shaabi militia group, who died in the same drone attack which killed General Soleimani.
The United States Justice Department said it had collected 7 million dollars in Iranian assets which would be used to compensate victims of state-sponsored terrorism.
In a statement, the Justice Department said the funds were part of a U.S. civil forfeiture targeting attempts to breach Iran sanctions through fraudulent money transfers.
And the U.S. State department announced another round of sanctions, this time targeting companies based in Iran, the United Kingdom, Germany and China.
The companies are believed to be connected to Iran’s metals industry, which the State Department said was being used by the Iranian regime to fund destabilizing activities around the world.
