Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen since the Trump administration withdrew last year from a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and began ratcheting up sanctions. Earlier this month, the United States blacklisted Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions. Iran has threatened in the past to leave the NPT, as U.S. President Donald Trump moved to scrap the 2015 deal with world powers - the United States, Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France. "If our oil does not pass, the oil of others shall not pass the Strait of Hormuz either." Iran has also threatened to pull out of the 2015 deal unless European powers enable it to receive economic benefits.

Source: The Star April 28, 2019 06:28 UTC