Iran to Respond to West’s Breach of Nuclear Deal Commitments by Wednesday

According to Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Tehran's backtracking on the agreement was due to external pressure.

He accused "hardliners" in the U.S. of working to undermine the deal, saying it was "in the interests of the region and the world, but not the enemies of Iran, therefore they spared no effort since 2015 to undermine (the deal)".

Tensions have risen on the eve of the anniversary of President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the agreement, under which Iran agreed to curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of global sanctions.

"The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces", Bolton said.

His administration argued from the beginning that while Iran wasn't violating the stipulations of the deal, it was defying the "spirit" of the agreement, and the White House abandoned it for that reason - much to the chagrin of the other parties involved.

And earlier this week, National Security Adviser John Bolton said the United States was deploying an aircraft carrier to the Middle East following a number of "troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Iran. On Tuesday, US military officials said the Lincoln would be skipping a planned port call in Croatia to more rapidly reach the Persian Gulf.

But under the Trump administration, the USA exited the deal and revived sanctions, including an embargo against Iran's economically important oil sector. The move also comes shortly after the United States labeled Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist entity, infuriating the hardline Islamic regime.

Iran has said its development of ballistic missiles has nothing to do with its nuclear activity and is entirely defensive in nature - and that its support for regional allies is not Washington's business.

Under the deal, Iran agreed to rein in its nuclear activities in return for an easing of sanctions.

Rouhani said Iran stops the implementation of its commitments under two items of the JCPOA.

Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif said Iran would be partially withdrawing from the 2015 agreement.

The U.S. last week stopped issuing waivers for countries importing Iranian crude oil, a crucial source of cash for Iran's government.

The comment was the first from an Israeli official on the matter. "We will continue to fight those who would kill us".

Currently, the accord limits Iran to enriching uranium to 3.67 per cent, which can fuel a commercial nuclear power plant.

In a speech broadcast on national television, Rouhani said he had written to the remaining signatories saying Tehran would start rolling back on its commitments by stopping selling enriched uranium and heavy water to other nations. The aim of the latter is to keep Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium under the 300-kilogram limit set out in the nuclear accord. However, once a country enriches uranium to around 20pc, scientists say the time needed to reach 90pc is halved.

The weeks leading up to the anniversary of Trump's withdrawal from the agreement have seen a sharp tightening of US sanctions and an increase in tensions on other fronts.