Former Indian Ambassador M.K. Bhadrakumar and Newsclick’s Prabir Purkayastha discuss what lies ahead in West Asia as a new US administration takes charge

Iran announced on Monday that it has started enriching uranium to up to 20% as per the law passed by its parliament in November and according to the provisions of the 2015 nuclear deal

As the US continues to mount pressure on Iran, the latter has said it “intends to produce low-enriched uranium up to 20 percent at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant”

The Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the deal in May 2018 and imposed various sanctions against Iran without any international approval

The relentless maximum pressure campaign of the Trump administration against Iran which is continuing even after his electoral loss will be tough for a Biden administration to reverse, assuming there is the will to do so

Sale of F-35 fighter aircraft and advanced drones to the UAE is expected to increase the arms race in the Middle East region. Activists have especially flagged the potential use of these weapons in Yemen

The Trump administration and the Modi government have eagerly hailed their bond as great democracies. In practice however, the relationship has largely seen India emerge as a junior partner to US imperialism

The sanctions mostly target entities and individuals in Iran’s petroleum sector, including the minister of petroleum, Bijan Zangeneh. US sanctions have massively affected Iran’s ability to deal with the outbreak of COVID-19

On Thursday, the US treasury department blacklisted 18 major Iranian banks in the latest assault as part of its so-called maximum pressure campaign against the country

The US is considering issuing an executive order within days which will threaten secondary sanctions against countries or firms buying or selling arms from and to Iran

Delegates from Iran, Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany said the deal was a key component in the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture. They also rejected US bids to trigger snapback sanctions

The admissibility of the notice submitted by Pompeo last week was questioned by 13 out of 15 members of the UNSC. Even US allies have pointed out that having left the deal in 2018, it cannot ask for sanctions