Iran ramps up uranium enrichment, seizes tanker

Amid a financial dispute with South Korea, Iran has seized a South Korean-flagged tanker in the Persian Gulf, while on the same day announcing the resumption of enriching uranium to 20%.
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
Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Al-Monitor Staff

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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