Iran's Latest Gamble: Islamic Regime Reopens 'Major' Uranium Plant

Plagued by concerns that the 2015 nuclear deal might collapse, Iran has reopened a "major" uranium enrichment plant that's been closed since 2009.

"We must show to the world that we endure hardships but will not make concessions on our independence and freedom," President Hassan Rouhani told a gathering of top executives in Tehran on Wednesday, the Jewish Press reports.

The news came on the same day the Trump administration began dismantling the sanctions relief that was granted to Iran under the 2015 agreement – and more than a month after President Donald Trump declared the US was withdrawing from the accord.

According to the semi-official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), technicians have already begun injecting yellow cake, a uranium powder, into the Isfahan plant.

In recent days, Iran's currency, the rial, has plummeted against the US dollar, leading to protests on the streets of Tehran.

"The US cannot defeat our nation, our enemies are not able to get us to their knees," Rouhani said, accusing the Trump administration of waging a "psychological, economic and political war" on Iran.

In a televised speech Monday night, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani blamed Washington for the unrest.

"As always, America wants to break apart the power, glory of the Islamic Republic of Iran and grandeur of the system and the nation with a new method," Rouhani claimed, as he sought to reassure Iranians angry over the regime's handling of the economy.

But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggests Iran has no one but itself to blame.

On Wednesday, he condemned the Islamic Republic for pouring resources into useless military escapades rather than investing in its own people, The Jerusalem Post reports.

"The Iranian government is squandering its citizen's resources – whether it's adventurism in Syria, it's support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, or its ambitions for wastefully expanding its nuclear program, it will only add to the suffering of the people of Iran," Pompeo said in a statement Wednesday.

"The Iranian people are demanding their leaders share the country's wealth and respond to their legitimate needs," he continued. "We condemn the government's same futile tactics of suppression, imprisonment of protestors, and the denial of Iranian' frustrations."

"The people of Iran are tired of the corruption, injustice, and incompetence from their leaders. The world hears their voice," he said.