International

The real battle for the fate of the Iran nuclear deal has begun.

For a year now since the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the agreement, a kind of "phoney diplomatic war" has been under way.

Iran and all the other parties to the accord have carried on regardless of Washington's actions.

But Iranian compliance was not the issue for the Trump administration.

It just believes that this is a very bad deal. Its main European allies, along with Russia and China disagree.

So the Trump administration has been ratcheting up the pressure on Tehran.

It has re-imposed many sanctions; it has designated the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation; and, most recently, it has not renewed sanctions waivers that allowed several countries to continue purchasing Iranian oil.

The pressure on Iran's economy has been severe.

Both in terms of responding to popular pressure at home and in an effort to relieve its worsening situation, the Iranian government has now decided to act.