Tehran, May 8: A year after the United States unilaterally walked out of the 2015 historic nuclear deal which de-escalated tensions between the US and Iran, the latter has now announced to gradually walk out of the pact. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday announced that his regime has decided to gradually withdraw from the deal in the near future.

In a televised speech, Rouhani said that Tehran would reduce its "commitments" to the deal, but would not immediately withdraw and that signatories of the deal -- France, the UK, Germany, Russia and China -- had been informed in advance of the move. Donald Trump Aims for Major Nuclear Deal With Russia, China

According to the President, Iran would keep enriched uranium stocks in the country and not sell them abroad. He also threatened to resume production of higher enriched uranium in 60 days.

Rouhani accused "hardliners" in the US of working to undermine the agreement, saying it was "in the interests of the region and the world, but not the enemies of Iran, therefore they spared no effort since 2015 to undermine (the deal)", CNN reported.

The accord is aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief, but Tehran-Washington tensions have risen since the US withdrew from the deal. US President Donald Trump later reimposed sanctions on Tehran, hitting its economy.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran declares that at the current stage, it does not any more see itself committed to respecting the limitations on keeping enriched uranium and heavy water reserves," Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) said in a statement.

The SNSC said other partners would have 60 days to lift pressure from Iran caused by the US sanctions, otherwise the country "will cease implementation of restrictions on uranium enrichment levels".

The announcement comes after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made an unscheduled visit to Iraq, and a US aircraft carrier was deployed to the Gulf region.

(With IANS inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 08, 2019 03:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).