“A few minutes ago, Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility began uranium enrichment activities with an abundance of 20%.” Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabbier said on the 4th that Iran has notified the International Atomic Energy Agency of the relevant activities.
According to the website of Egypt’s Pyramid, this is Iran’s latest response to pressure from the United States. The day before, Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Miller suddenly overturned the original decision and asked the USS Nimitz to stay in the Middle East in response to possible military strikes by Iran on U.S. targets.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Miller suddenly reversed the policy direction a few days ago on the evening of the 3rd, issuing a statement saying, “Because of the recent threats made by Iranian leaders to President Trump and other U.S. government officials, I have ordered the aircraft carrier Nimitz to stop the routine redeployment and continue to stay in the United States.
The area of operation where the Central Command of the Army is located. No one should doubt the determination of the United States.” A Pentagon official said that the move showed a significant change in Miller’s attitude. He had previously ordered the aircraft carrier to return home despite the advice of senior commanders.
According to an article published by Al Jazeera in Qatar, since late November last year, the Nimitz has entered the Gulf region and patrolled the nearby waters. At the end of December, Miller asked the Nimitz to leave the Middle East and return directly to the United States after completing her support mission to the U.S. military in Somalia.
Some analysts said that the Pentagon’s request for the Nimitz to leave the Middle East is a signal to cool tensions to avoid conflict between the United States and Iran in the last days of Trump’s term, but Miller issued a diametrically opposite statement a few days later. The New York Times said that for whatever reason, the complex information released around the Nimitz operation exposed problems in synergy communication between the inexperienced Pentagon leadership and the White House in the last days of Trump’s presidency.
According to the report, in November last year, Trump fired Defense Secretary Esper and several senior aides and appointed Miller, the former director of the National Anti-Terrorism Center, as Acting Defense Secretary. Since then, a series of decisions at the Pentagon have attracted criticism.
According to the report, it is the first anniversary of Suleimani, the commander of the “Quds Brigade” of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was killed by an airstrike by the U.S. military. In recent days, Suleimani’s supporters have held anti-American rallies and marches across Iran, as well as in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries, demanding reprisals, and tensions between the United States and Iran have increased.
According to Article 1 of Iran’s recently promulgated Anti-Sanctions Strategy Law, after the entry into force of the law, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran is obliged to produce enriched uranium enriched by 20% for peaceful purposes and store 120 kilograms in Iran, which means that Iran can produce weapons-grade enriched uranium (a high as much as 90%) in a short time.
The European Union said on the 4th that Iran’s move was a “great violation” of the Iran nuclear agreement.
According to AFP on the 4th, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed on the same day that a Korean-flagged tanker was detained for chemical pollution of the waters. The Fifth Fleet of the United States Navy said that the relevant departments were aware of the situation and were closely monitoring.
In addition, the ground, air force, air defense and naval forces of the Iranian army will hold the first two-day joint drone combat exercise on the 5th. During the exercise, the latest equipment and unmanned aerial vehicle subsystems developed by the Iranian defense and army will also be displayed.
Israel’s Jerusalem Post said on the 3rd that several former Israeli officials said that although there is no sign of action at present, Iran is likely to “find an opportunity” to avenge Soleimani in the future.
