Amid growing tensions with US, Iran abandons 2015 nuclear deal limits

Amid mounting tension in West Asia following the US strike that killed a top Iranian general in Iraq, Tehran on Sunday announced that it was abandoning its limits under the 2015 nuclear deal which is to restrict its nuclear activities.

"By taking the fifth step in reducing its obligations, Iran is abandoning the last key practical limitation under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which is dealing with the number of centrifuges," the Iranian government said in a statement.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an agreement between Iran and P5+1 with European Union, was signed in 2015. Under the agreement, Iran agreed to limit its sensitive nuclear activities and allow in foreign inspectors in return for the lifting of economic sanctions. Under the JCPOA, Tehran was restricted to installing no more than 5,060 of the oldest and least efficient centrifuges at Natanz until 2026.

In 2018, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal, calling it defective at its core. It also imposed sanctions on Iran, targeting the nation oil market and business sector. Following this, Iran vowed to reduce compliance with the deal.

Meanwhile, Iraq's lawmakers called for the removal of all American troops from its soil. The parliamentarians have voted in favour of a resolution calling for an end to the foreign military presence in the country, including around 5,200 US troops stationed to help fight Islamic State extremists.

On Friday, Iran's most senior commander Qassem Soleimani was killed by the US military at Baghdad airport in Iraq. Pentagon officials in the US later confirmed that the strike was carried out on the command of US President Donald Trump.

"At the direction of the President, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization," a statement by the United States Department of Defense read.

"General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region," it added.

The tensions continue to run high as US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that it has targeted 52 sites that 'will be hit very fast and very hard' if the country strikes any Americans or American Assets.