Iran ramps up uranium enrichment, seizes tanker - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

Jan 4, 2021

A picture taken on November 10, 2019, shows an Iranian flag in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, during an official ceremony to kick-start works on a second reactor at the facility. - Bushehr is Iran's only nuclear power station and is currently running on imported fuel from Russia that is closely monitored by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images) — The Iranian flag is seen at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, during an official ceremony to kick-start works on a second reactor at the facility, Nov. 10, 2019. — ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Amid rising tension in the Persian Gulf in US President Donald Trump’s final weeks in office, Iran announced on Monday that it has ramped up enrichment of uranium, while the navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized a South Korean-flagged tanker.

The two moves come just after the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 3, 2020, killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani in a US strike in Baghdad.

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Nuclear Power

A picture obtained by AFP from the Iranian news agency Tasnim on January 4, 2021, shows the South Korean-flagged tanker being escorted by Iran's Revolutionary Guards navy after being seized in the Gulf. - "A Korean ship was seized in Persian Gulf waters by the Revolutionary Guard's navy and transferred to our country's ports," Fars news agency said without naming the vessel. "This tanker had a South Korea flag and was seized over oil pollution and environmental hazards," it added. (Photo by - / TASNIM NEWS

South Korea dispatches anti-piracy unit after Iran seizes oil tanker

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

A picture obtained by AFP from the Iranian news agency Tasnim on January 4, 2021, shows the South Korean-flagged tanker being escorted by Iran's Revolutionary Guards navy after being seized in the Gulf. - "A Korean ship was seized in Persian Gulf waters by the Revolutionary Guard's navy and transferred to our country's ports," Fars news agency said without naming the vessel. "This tanker had a South Korea flag and was seized over oil pollution and environmental hazards," it added. (Photo by - / TASNIM NEWS

South Korean delegation heads to Iran over seized ship

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

The reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran, 1200 Kms south of Tehran, where Iran has began unloading fuel into the reactor core for the nuclear power plant on October 26, 2010, a move which brings the facility closer to generating electricity after decades of delay. AFP PHOTO/MEHR NEWS/MAJID ASGARIPOUR (Photo credit should read MAJID ASGARIPOUR/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran exceeds enriched uranium limit set by nuclear deal

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

Tehran, IRAN: An Iranian man carries a placard in support of nuclear technology as another waves a portrait of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally to mark the 28th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Tehran 11 February 2007. Tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets of Tehran today in an annual show of support for the Islamic revolution and to back the country's controversial nuclear programme. Throngs of people were crowding into Tehran's massive Azadi square, where Ira

Khamenei says Iran may enrich uranium to 60%

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff