Iran will reportedly soon announce reciprocal measures in the face of the Donald Trump administration’s revoking of sanctions waivers allowing nuclear cooperation with Iran. European officials have unofficially been notified of the decision, according to media reports in Iran.

May 8, when Iran is reportedly set to make the announcement, will mark the one-year anniversary of the US officially exiting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was an agreement between Iran, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, and the European Union in which Iran reduced its nuclear capabilities in exchange for sanctions relief.

Reports of Iran’s upcoming announcement come specifically in response to the US State Department’s decision on May 3 that it would revoke waivers for Iran that would allow it to ship its heavy water abroad for storage and swap its enriched uranium for natural uranium. The waivers were also reduced from 180 days to 90 days, in which the remaining parties are allowed to cooperate with Iran on the sites of Bushehr, Arak and Fordow without facing US sanctions. The new US announcement is an apparent effort to give time for remaining parties to the JCPOA, all who have criticized the United States for exiting the deal, to wind down work with Iran rather than cut them off all at once. It also appears designed to force Iran to halt heavy water production as well as uranium enrichment in order to adhere to limits on the latter under the JCPOA.

This comes a day after US national security adviser John Bolton released a statement that a US carrier battle group would be sent to the region "to send a clear and unmistakable message" that any attack on the United States or its allies would result in a US response. The statement said that any action even by a group Iran supports would be deemed as an Iranian action.