Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that he would pump uranium gas into 1,044 centrifuges at the Fordow plant to restore uranium enrichment.

"As mentioned in the Comprehensive Joint Action Plan (JCPOA - the full name of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal), we have more than 1,000 centrifuges at Fordow. The injection of uranium gas into the centrifuge here has been stopped but it will be restored tomorrow, "President Rouhani said today on Iranian state television.

Fordow factory in the mountains near the city of Qom, south of the capital Tehran. The suspension of the plant's operation is one of Iran's commitments in JCPOA to lift its international sanctions.

"All steps that Iran takes to reduce its commitment to the nuclear deal are reversible and Iran will only maintain all commitments under the agreement when the remaining signatories do the same." Rouhani added.

Iran's statement came after the US announced new sanctions on Iran's construction industry and trading four types of "strategic materials" to prevent Iran from supplying important materials to the construction industry, the weapons of mass destruction program as well as the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), which is listed as a terrorist by the US.

In response to the sanctions, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneisau decided not to abolish the ban on negotiating with the US "enemy" until the US returned to the nuclear deal and lifted all sanctions. US Treasury Department on September 5 continues to blacklist 9 people close to Khamenei, including his son.

Tensions between the two countries increased last year when President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from JCPOA, while imposing sanctions on oil exports and isolating Iran's economy. Although Europe is trying to mediate for the two countries to negotiate, the prospects for improving bilateral relations are still very unclear.