Nuclear energy in Iran

Iran's Elite Revolutionary Guard has announced it has shot down an "intruding American spy drone" after it entered into the country's territory Thursday, according to state-run Press TV. The spy drone was shot down in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan. The US Central Military Command has said that no aircraft has performed a mission in Iranian airspace, Nova TV reported.

Iran will surpass the uranium stockpile limit set under the nuclear deal agreed with world powers from June 27, a top official said on June 17 on state television.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said June 10 that it was in Iran's "political and strategic interest" to stay in the 2015 nuclear deal, as the U.N. atomic watchdog voiced concern at increased tensions over the landmark accord.

So far, the EU has done nothing to save the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran said, according to BTA.

President Hassan Rouhani on June 1 suggested Iran may be willing to hold talks if the United States showed it respect, but said Tehran would not be pressured into negotiations, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he favours talks and diplomacy but not under current conditions, state news agency IRNA said late on May 20.

Iran is showing "maximum restraint" despite the U.S. withdrawal from a nuclear deal, the country's foreign minister said on May 16, accusing Washington of an "unacceptable" escalation in tensions.

Iran has officially stopped some commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers following an order from its national security council, an informed official in the country's atomic energy body told the ISNA news agency on May 15.

U.S. President Donald Trump on May 9 urged Iran's leadership to sit down and talk with him about giving up Tehran's nuclear program and said he could not rule out a military confrontation given the heightened tensions between the two countries.

The world powers struggling to preserve a nuclear deal with Iran are facing an increasingly uphill battle, with a new deadline from Tehran on finding a solution to make up for last year's unilateral U.S. withdrawal from the accord and the increasing economic hardship that has put on the Islamic Republic.