Iran partially pulls out of nuclear deal

Iran President Hassan Rouhani. Pic/AFP

Tehran: Iran said on Wednesday it had stopped respecting limits on its nuclear activities agreed under a 2015 deal with major powers until they find a way to bypass renewed US sanctions. It said it was responding to the unilateral sanctions that the US has reimposed since it quit the agreement one year ago.

Iran said it would stop implementing some of the restrictions immediately. It said it would abandon more if the remaining parties to the agreement - Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia - failed to start delivering on their commitments to sanctions relief within 60 days.

President Hassan Rouhani said the ultimatum was intended to rescue the nuclear deal from his US counterpart Donald Trump. "We felt the (deal) needed surgery and that the year-long sedatives have not delivered any result. This surgery is meant to save the (deal) not destroy it," he said.

"We are not operating outside of JCPOA (nuclear deal) but are in fact working in its framework," said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

'Unwelcome step'
Britain has called Iran's decision an "unwelcome step" that could lead to new Western sanctions. "We urge Iran not to take escalatory steps and to stand by its commitments," Foreign Office minister Mark Field said.

Iran moved missiles by boat: US official

The decision to send an aircraft carrier and a group of Air Force bombers to the Middle East was based in part on intelligence indications that Iran had moved short-range ballistic missiles by boat in waters off its shores, an American official said.

The movement, first reported by CNN, was among a range of recent indications that Iran might be considering or preparing to attack US forces in the region, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said on Tuesday it was not clear if the boats with missiles represented a new military capability that could be used against US forces or were only being moved to shore locations.

Top stories of the day

• Death by Garbage: Man dies under weight of waste in Kurla
• Video: Minor boys perform death-defying stunt on Mumbai local train
• Mumbai: CSMT's hi-tech indicators make commuters unhappy
• Mumbai Crime: 55-year old doctor rapes model in Versova; arrested
• Visually challenged Mumbai boy 95 percent in ICSE
• Banned stapler pins on your tea bags? FDA is waiting for your complaint
• Talaq, not qubool, says Bhiwandi woman to husband
• Four cars catch fire in two days on Mumbai-Pune Expressway
• Mumbai: Drop in road accident deaths in city, suburbs
• Mumbai: Relief for flat owner who owes society dues of Rs 4.91 lakh
• 42 cats, dogs rescued from 'unhygienic' Virar flat
• Kumbh pe kharcha and other matters in polls pe charcha
• S K Patil Udyan in south Mumbai opens after eight months
• 'Joblessness is the real terrorism'
• Researchers at IITB develop first ever microprocessor, major boon for India's electronics
• Twitterati reacts to Narendra Modi's comment on Gandhi family using INS Viraat as personal taxi

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates