
Iran government spokesman Ali Rabiei confirmed to the Mehr news agency that the process of enriching the uranium to 20% purity has started in the underground Fordon facility near Quom on 4 January. It started after President Hassan Rouhani gave assent to the bill which was presented last month by Iran's Guardian Council. It was seen as the retaliatory action of Iran when it's top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed in the remote-controlled shooting near the outskirts of Tehran last month.
The US and other European nations agreed with Iran in 2915 to remove the sanctions from it and in return Iran will keep limit on uranium enrichment up to 3.67 per cent which can be used for peaceful purposes like electricity production. In 2018, Donald Trump, President of the US, pull the US out of the Joint Comprehension Plan of Action and imposed severe sanctions on the Iranian economy.
On 3 January, thousands of Iraqis coalesced near the landmark central square to observe the first anniversary of the killing of General Qasem Soleimani and Abu-Mahdi al-Muhandis in the drone attack by the US. After the assassination of Soleimani, relations worsened off between the two. Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif ruled out any precondition from Biden's regime on its nuclear programme and wanted the US to join the nuclear deal before any discussion.