Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

Iran is now enriching more uranium than Tehran did before it agreed to a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Jan. 16 in a televised speech.

"We are enriching more uranium before the deal was reached ... Pressure has increased on Iran but we continue to progress," Rouhani said.

The U.K., Germany, and France announced on Jan. 14 they would activate the dispute mechanism of the 2015 deal due to Tehran's continuous violations.

The decision of the European participants provokes "deep disappointment and concern," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed on Jan. 15 a proposal for a new "Trump deal" aimed at resolving a nuclear row, saying it was a "strange" offer and criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump for always breaking promises.

Tehran is ready to negotiate on various aspects of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action if Washington returns to the agreement. Iranian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, told TASS.

According to him, it is better for the United States to return to the plan and to the negotiations. In that case, Iran will be ready for discussions.

Iran withdraws from nuclear deal commitment and pledged to begin enriching uranium for its technical needs.

This comes amid a continuing escalation of tensions between Iran and the US following the death of Iran's supreme military commander, General Qasem Soleimani, in a US air strike in Baghdad.

Acting Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Cornel Feruta arrived in Tehran on Sunday for high-level meetings with Iranian officials, AFP reports citing Iranian news agency ISNA.

European Union nations threw their diplomatic weight behind the unraveling Iran nuclear deal on July 15, trying to rescue the pact from collapsing under U.S. pressure.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on July 15 that there was still time to save the Iran nuclear deal and that despite the United States being Britain's closest ally it disagreed on how to handle the Iran crisis.

US President Donald Trump warned that Iran is "playing with fire" after Tehran said it exceeded a limit on enriched uranium reserves under a 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by Washington, AFP reported.

"They know what they're doing. They know what they're playing with and I think they're playing with fire," Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about Iran.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva received the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Legal and International Affairs of Iran Abbas Araghchi, writes the Bulgarian National Radio.