(CNN) Iran announced Wednesday it was partially withdrawing from a landmark nuclear deal, marking a serious escalation in Tehran's faceoff with the United States. In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani heads a cabinet meeting in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 8, 2019. JUST WATCHED Iran's leader on the fate of the nuclear deal (2018) Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Iran's leader on the fate of the nuclear deal (2018) 14:35On Twitter, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that the country was stopping measures that Washington "has made impossible to continue." Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has always maintained that its nuclear research is purely civilian in nature. The Kremlin also placed the blame for Iran's partial withdrawal on Washington's "ill-conceived steps" to pressure Tehran, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said during a Wednesday press briefing.

Source: CNN May 08, 2019 06:20 UTC