By: Ali Arouzi and Saphora Smith – NBC News; nbcnews.com
Tensions between the United States and Iran have been simmering in the last days of President Donald Trump’s administration.
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has resumed enriching uranium up to 20 percent in the country’s biggest breach yet of its landmark nuclear deal with world powers, a government spokesperson told state-run Mehr News on Monday.
Also Monday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seized a South Korean-flagged ship carrying thousands of tons of ethanol in the Persian Gulf, according to the state-linked news agencies IRIB and FARS News.
The U.S. State Department said it was tracking reports that the Iranian regime has detained a Republic of Korea-flagged tanker. “The regime continues to threaten navigational rights and freedoms in the Persian Gulf as part of a clear attempt to extort the international community into relieving the pressure of sanctions. We join the Republic of Korea’s call for Iran to immediately release the tanker,” a spokesman for the department said Monday.