Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced Tuesday Iran would resume uranium enrichment at its Fordow plant and begin injecting uranium gas into 1,044 centrifuges state media report.
Why it matters: The announcement coincided with the first anniversary of the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran. Axios contributor Barak Ravid notes the announced plans are a substantial breach of Iran's nuclear deal.
- "In the nuclear deal Iran committed to stop enrichment at Fordow and turn the facility to a reaserach center," Ravid said, noting it's the first time Iran has undertaken enrichment at Fordow since the 2015 deal.
The big picture: Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the policy institute the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, notes in an article for Axios that the Trump administration's "maximum pressure campaign "escalated further last week with new State Department findings that link the country's construction sector to its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."
- On Monday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement the U.S. had imposed sanctions on nine people connected to Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Go deeper: Expanding U.S. pressure campaign on Iran could reach a tipping point
Editor's note: This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.
