Iran, Intimidated by Intelligence Intimating Israeli Incitement in Iraq, Insists on Increasing Illegal Ingredient

Iran over the weekend observed the one-year anniversary of the killing of its top general by the United States military with a series of controversial statements and announcements regarding its nuclear program and American aggression. A year after the US assassinated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif on Saturday warned that another attack was imminent, this time on Iranian soil. “New intelligence from Iraq indicate(s) that Israeli agent-provocateurs are plotting attacks against Americans – putting an outgoing [President Donald] Trump in a bind with a fake casus belli,” Zarif tweeted, adding: “Be careful of a trap, [Trump]. Any fireworks will backfire badly.” On Friday, Iran notified the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency of its plans to enrich uranium up to 20% purity at its Fordow nuclear site, similar to the levels reached before the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Several months after President Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the agreement in 2018, Tehran announced it would begin to enrich uranium at levels higher than the deal stipulated.