"Iran's army has downed an unknown drone in the port city of Mahshahr," the semi-official Tasnim news agency said earlier Friday.

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Other Iranian news outlets carried the same report, without elaborating on whether it was a military or civilian drone.

The Students News Agency ISNA and the Young Journalists Club (YJC), affiliated to Iran's state broadcasting, said "an unknown flying object" had been shot down by the Iranian army, adding that the report had yet to be confirmed by Iranian officials.

Iran's Arabic-Language al-Alam TV channel said "residents of Imam Khomeini port city heard the sound of a missile being fired on Friday morning."

In June, Iran shot down an unmanned US surveillance drone, which the elite Revolutionary Guards said was flying over southern Iran. Washington said the US drone had been shot down by Iran in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.

Relations between Iran and the United States have worsened since last year when US President Donald Trump pulled out of Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and re-imposed sanctions on the country.

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The agreement bans enrichment and nuclear material from Fordow. But with feedstock gas entering its centrifuges, the facility, built inside a mountain, will move from the permitted status of research plant to being an active nuclear site.

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"After all successful preparations ... injection of uranium gas to centrifuges started on Thursday at Fordow ... all the process has been supervised by the inspectors of the UN nuclear watchdog," the AEOI said in a statement reported by Iranian media.

Iran has gradually scaled back its commitments to the deal, under which it curbed its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of most international sanctions, after the United States reneged on the agreement last year due to Iranian belligerence across the region and ballistic missile tests.

"The process will take a few hours to stabilize and by Saturday, when International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors will again visit the site, a uranium enrichment level of 4.5% will have been achieved," AEOI's spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told state TV.

The United States, which withdrew from the nuclear deal in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran, reiterated a statement from Tuesday, calling Iran's move a "big step in the wrong direction."

US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said Tehran had no credible reason to expand its uranium enrichment program and Washington would continue its policy of economic pressure on Iran until it changed its behavior.

Under the pact, Iran agreed to turn Fordow into a "nuclear, physics and technology center" where 1,044 centrifuges are used for purposes other than enrichment, such as producing stable isotopes, which have a variety of civil uses.

"All the centrifuges installed at Fordow are IR1 types. Uranium gas (UF6) was injected to four chains of IR1 centrifuges (696 centrifuges)," Kamalvandi said. "Two other remaining chains of IR1 centrifuges (348 centrifuges) will be used for producing and enriching stable isotopes in the facility."

In pulling out of the deal, US President Donald Trump said it was flawed to Iran's advantage. Washington has since renewed and intensified sanctions on Iran, slashing the country's economically vital crude oil sales by more than 80 percent.

The Iranian move will further complicate the chances of saving the accord that European powers, Russia and the European Union have urged Iran to respect.

Speaking at a news conference at the end of a visit to China, French President Emmanuel Macron called Iran's latest move "grave," adding that he would speak with both Trump and the Iranians in coming days.

Responding to Washington's "maximum pressure" policy, Iran has bypassed restrictions of the deal step-by-step – including by breaching both its cap on stockpiled enriched uranium and on the fissile level of enrichment.

Iran said on Monday it was developing advanced centrifuges that can enrich uranium faster.

The biggest obstacle to building a nuclear weapon is obtaining enough fissile material – highly enriched uranium or plutonium – for the core of a bomb. A central aim of the deal was to extend the time Iran would need to do that, if it chose to, to a year from about 2 to 3 months.

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Crowds packed the streets around the former mission, dubbed the "den of spies" after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

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Hardline students stormed the embassy soon after the fall of the US-backed shah, and 52 Americans were held hostage there for 444 days. The two countries have been enemies ever since.

The US and Israeli flags and effigies of US President Donald Trump were set ablaze during marches and rallies that were held in some 1,000 communities across the country, state media said.

"Our fight with America is over our independence, over not submitting to bullying, over values, beliefs and our religion," army chief Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said in a speech at the rally outside the former embassy.

"They [Americans] will continue their hostilities, like the proverbial poisonous scorpion whose nature it is to sting and cannot be stopped unless it is crushed," Mousavi said in remarks carried by state TV.

The White House said after four decades Iran's clerical rulers continued to "target innocent civilians for use as pawns in its failed foreign relations," its spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.

"Until Iran changes this and its other hostile behavior, we will continue to impose crippling sanctions," she said.

"It [the Iranian regime] can choose peace over hostage taking, assassinations, sabotage, maritime hijacking, and attacks on global oil markets ... we support the Iranian people. It is time for the Iranian regime to do the same."

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on all state matters, on Sunday renewed a ban on talks with Iran's longtime foe the United States, describing the two countries as implacable foes.

"Those who believe that negotiations with the enemy will solve our problems are 100% wrong," he said.

Meanwhile, Iran's parliament gave initial approval to a measure requiring schoolbooks to inform students about "America's crimes." Lawmakers also chanted "Death to America."

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The officials said the operation took place in late September and took aim at Tehran's ability to spread "propaganda."

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One of the officials said the strike affected physical hardware, but did not provide further details.

It highlights how US President Donald Trump's administration has been trying to counter what it sees as Iranian aggression without spiraling into a broader conflict.

The strike appears more limited than other such operations against Iran this year after the downing of an American drone in June and an alleged attack by Iran's Revolutionary Guards on oil tankers in the Gulf in May.

The United States, Saudi Arabia, Britain, France, and Germany have publicly blamed the Sept. 14 attack on Iran, which denied involvement in the strike. The Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen claimed responsibility.

Publicly, the Pentagon has responded by sending thousands of additional troops and equipment to bolster Saudi defenses – the latest US deployment to the region this year.

The Pentagon declined to comment about the cyber strike.

"As a matter of policy and for operational security, we do not discuss cyberspace operations, intelligence, or planning," said Pentagon spokeswoman Elissa Smith.

The impact of the attack, if any, could take months to determine, but cyber strikes are seen as a less-provocative option below the threshold of war.

"You can do damage without killing people or blowing things up; it adds an option to the toolkit that we didn't have before and our willingness to use it is important," said James Lewis, a cyber expert with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Lewis added that it may not be possible to deter Iranian behavior with even conventional military strikes.

Tensions in the Gulf have escalated sharply since May 2018, when Trump withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Tehran that put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the easing of sanctions.

It was unclear whether there have been other US cyberattacks since the one in late September.

Iran has used such tactics against the United States. This month, a hacking group that appears linked to the Iranian government tried to infiltrate email accounts related to Trump's re-election campaign.

Over 30 days in August and September, the group, which Microsoft dubbed "Phosphorous," made more than 2,700 attempts to identify consumer accounts, then attacked 241 of them.

Tehran is also thought to be a major player in spreading disinformation.

Last year a Reuters investigation found more than 70 websites that push Iranian propaganda to 15 countries, in an operation that cybersecurity experts, social media firms and journalists are only starting to uncover.

Tensions with Iran have been high since the Sept. 14 attack. Tehran has claimed that an Iranian tanker was hit by rockets in the Red Sea last week and warned on Monday that there would be consequences.

At a news conference on Monday, President Hassan Rouhani reiterated his country's policy toward the Trump administration, ruling out bilateral talks unless Washington returns to the landmark nuclear deal and lifts crippling US economic sanctions.

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The July 19 seizure of the ship, two weeks after Britain detained an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar, cranking up tensions in the region in the wake of attacks on other merchant vessels that Washington blamed on Tehran.

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Iran denied responsibility for those attacks, which took place along a vital international oil shipping route.

"The legal work and administrative procedures for the release of the English tanker have been completed but I have no information on the time of the release," said government spokesman Ali Rabiei, according to semi-official news agency ILNA.

The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Rabiei as saying: "The legal work for the oil tanker is over ... and the oil tanker can move, and the decisions indicate the end of the detention." He did not elaborate.

Relations between the United States, its allies and Iran have been gradually more strained since Washington withdrew last year from a global pact aimed at reining in Tehran's nuclear program and imposed sanctions on it aimed at shutting down Iranian oil exports.

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In a CNBC interview, Mnuchin said that even with the Tuesday ouster of US National Security Adviser John Bolton, the administration is "executing on a maximum pressure strategy against Iran."

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"There's no question it's working," he added.

Mnuchin also said, "We have cut off their money, and that's the reason why, if they do come back to the negotiation table, they're coming back."

Regarding possible negotiations between Washington and Tehran, "If the president can get the right deal that he's talked about, we'll negotiate with Iran," said Mnuchin.

"If not, we'll continue the maximum pressure campaign."

"There's no question it's working," says Steven Mnuchin

In Israel, Nathan Sales told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that while the administration isn't seeking regime change in Iran, it will maintain its "maximum pressure campaign to get Iran back to the table" for a "better deal" than the 2015 nuclear deal, which the United States withdrew in May 2018 reimposing sanctions lifted under it along with enacting new financial penalties against the regime.

Sales declined to answer if Trump will meet with Rouhani at the United Nations later this month and if the United States would agree to a French $15 million assistance package for Iran in exchange for complying with the nuclear deal.

Mnuchin acknowledged there were "direct conversations" with the French about the matter. "They absolutely understand they would need waivers from the US, and that's not something we're contemplating at the moment," he said.

Despite Bolton leaving, Sales said that "US Iran policy is the president's Iran policy. The president has been very clear that it is the worst state sponsors of terrorism … and imposed historically severe sanctions on Iran."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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"The tanker has gone to its destination, the oil has been sold," spokesman Abbas Mousavi told the television station without disclosing whether the crude oil had been delivered.

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On Saturday, the Adrian Darya 1, which went dark off Syria earlier in the week, was photographed by satellite off the Syrian port of Tartus.

Maxar Technologies Inc., a US space technology company, supplied the images, which showed the tanker Adrian Darya 1 very close to Tartus on Friday, Sept. 6.

Ship-tracking data showed that the vessel appeared to have turned off its transponder in the Mediterranean west of Syria last Tuesday.

The vessel, formerly named Grace 1, was detained by British Royal Marine commandos off Gibraltar on July 4 as it was suspected to be en route to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.

Gibraltar released the Iranian vessel on Aug. 15 after receiving formal written assurances from Tehran that the ship would not discharge its 2.1 million barrels of oil in Syria.

On Friday, the US Treasury Department blacklisted the tanker.

In a related development, Iranian state television reported Sunday that Iran might soon release a detained British tanker, pending the completion of legal proceedings.

"I hope the procedures will be completed soon and this tanker will be released," Mousavi told the station.

In July, Iran seized a British oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz for alleged marine violations, two weeks after British forces detained an Iranian tanker near Gibraltar accused of taking oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.

The Iranian tanker was later released. Iran this week freed seven of the 23 crew members of the British-flagged tanker.

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The disappearance of the Adrian Darya 1, formerly known as the Grace 1, follows a pattern of Iranian oil tankers turning off their Automatic Identification System to try and mask where they deliver their cargo amid US sanctions targeting Iran's energy industry.

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US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and the imposition of heavy economic sanctions on Iran have blocked it from selling its crude oil abroad, a crucial source of government funding for the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, tensions have spiked across the Persian Gulf over mysterious tanker explosions, the shooting down of a US military surveillance drone by Iran and America deploying more troops and warplanes to the region.

The Adrian Darya, which carries 2.1 million barrels of Iranian crude worth some $130 million, switched off its AIS beacon just before 4 p.m. GMT Monday, according to the ship-tracking website MarineTraffic.com. The ship was some 45 nautical miles (83 kilometers) off the coast of Lebanon and Syria, heading north at its last report.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had alleged the US had intelligence that the Adrian Darya would head to the Syrian port of Tartus, just a short distance from its last reported position.

The actions of the Adrian Darya follow a pattern of other Iranian ships turning off their trackers once they reach near Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea, said Ranjith Raja, a lead analyst at the data firm Refinitiv.

Based on the fact Turkey has stopped taking Iranian crude oil and Syria historically has taken around 1 million barrels of crude oil a month from Iran, Raja said it was likely the ship would be offloading its cargo in Syria. That could see it transfer crude oil on smaller vessels, allowing it to be taken to port, he said.

"The Iranian oil going to Syria is not something new," Raja said. "This is a known fact."

The oil shipment website Tanker Trackers similarly believes the Adrian Darya to be off Syria.

"It is now safe to assume [the ship] is in Syria's territorial waters," Tanker Trackers wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Iranian officials haven't identified who bought the Adrian Darya's cargo, only that it has been sold.

The US, which has sought to seize the tanker, alleged in federal court that the ship is owned by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary organization answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The US recently declared the Guard a terrorist organization, giving it greater power to pursue seizing its assets.

US officials have since warned countries not to aid the Adrian Darya, which previously said it would be heading to Greece and Turkey before turning off its tracker Monday. Authorities in Gibraltar alleged the ship was bound for a refinery in Baniyas, Syria when they seized it in early July. They ultimately let it go after holding it for weeks.

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Speaking alongside Trump at the close of the G-7 summit in Biarritz on Monday, Macron said G-7 leaders had agreed that Iran needed to meet its nuclear obligations and that there was a hope for a diplomatic breakthrough in the tensions that have grown since the US left the 2015 nuclear accord.

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"Two things are very important for us: Iran must never have nuclear weapons, and this situation should never threaten regional stability," Macron said in his closing remarks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, "What unites us, and that is a big step forward, is that we not only don't want Iran to have nuclear weapons but also that we [want to] find the solution to that via political means."

On Sunday, Iran's foreign minister made a flying visit for talks with host France at the G-7 summit, as Paris ramped up efforts to ease tensions between Tehran and Washington, a dramatic diplomatic move that the White House said had surprised them.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is under US sanctions, flew to the southwest French town of Biarritz where the Group of Seven leaders are meeting. He held more than three hours of talks, including with French President Emmanuel Macron, before heading back to Tehran.

"Road ahead is difficult. But worth trying," Zarif tweeted, adding that in addition to meeting French leaders he had given a joint briefing to officials from Germany and Britain.

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America's top diplomat said "time is running short" to keep a UN arms embargo on Iran and a travel ban on the head of the country's elite Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, warning that ending such sanctions will "create new turmoil" by the country's "terror regime." The embargo and ban expire in October 2020.

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"Failing to confront the Iranian regime's malign activities will only grow the regime's multi-continental body count spanning the last 40 years," he warned.

Pompeo was one of more than 30 speakers at a Security Council meeting about the complex challenges confronting the Middle East. He faced sharp criticism from Russia and Iran, and milder criticism over Trump administration policies from several Western allies.

Pompeo began by touting the Trump administration's accomplishments related to "reviving America's leadership role" in the region. These included helping to dismantle the Islamic State extremist group's "physical caliphate" which once spanned large areas in Iraq and Syria, helping the UN envoy bring peace to Yemen, and facilitating new links between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Pompeo then called for more to be done to tackle the challenges facing the Middle East from raging conflict in Libya and continuing violence in Syria to the rift among Gulf countries and Iran, which he described as "the greatest ongoing threat to peace and security in the region."

He condemned Iran's support for proxies in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen as well as its "inexcusable and unprovoked sabotage and seizure of commercial vessels" in the Persian Gulf and its development and testing of advanced ballistic missiles in defiance of a UN resolution.

"Clearly, from Aleppo to Aden, from Tripoli to Tehran, greater cooperation in the Middle East is needed more than ever," Pompeo said. "We need fresh thinking to solve old problems."

He said that's why the US and Poland established the Warsaw Process at a meeting attended by 60 countries in February to promote peace and security in the Middle East. He said seven working groups have been created to focus on the region's challenges – cybersecurity, human rights, maritime and aviation security, energy security, missile proliferation, counterterrorism, and humanitarian issues and refugees.

Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky called the Warsaw Process, which Moscow boycotted, "another attempt to impose a unilateral solution to advance parochial geopolitical agendas."

Speaking directly to Pompeo, he said the secretary of state's speech contained many negative words, only made one reference to cooperation – and "not once did you use the word dialogue."

He said Pompeo also spoke "in an emotionally charged way" about the Persian Gulf, which Russia is also concerned about.

"But you are cobbling together a coalition against Iran, portraying that country as the sole source of problems, a kind of empire of evil, so to speak," Polyansky said.

As a result of the military build-up in the region, he said, any incident can spark a conflict "with potentially devastating consequences." And he appealed to all parties to exercise restraint, settle problems politically and diplomatically, and "eschew ultimatums, sanctions, and threats."

Polyansky said the United States can't expect Iran to sit down for negotiations without preconditions when its calls for talks "are punctuated with direct provocations and demeaning sanctions."

"I wish to assure you, nonetheless, that even given these difficult circumstances we will continue to seek to persuade both our Iranian and United States colleagues of the fact that it's important to step away from this dangerous precipice, to begin to engage in a settlement through civilized dialogue which provides for an end to ultimatums, sanctions and to blackmail," Polyansky said.

Iran's UN Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi said one of the main causes of instability and insecurity in the Middle East is the US deployment of over 70,000 troops in the region. Almost all of the 41 military installations in the Mideast in 2018 – up from four in 1990 – are American, he said, and "the unbridled flow of American weaponry into this region has turned it into a powder keg."

Responding to Pompeo's call for other nations to join the US, Britain, and Bahrain in ensuring freedom of navigation in the Gulf, Ravanchi called any interference in the strategic waterway "destabilizing," ''unacceptable," and doomed to "fail."

He reiterated Iran's call for a regional dialogue of Persian Gulf nations, and Polyansky reiterated Russia's call for collective security in the Gulf.

Britain's UN Ambassador Karen Pierce said, "This may well … be an idea whose time is yet to come, not least because the region itself needs to be ready for such work."

She said one option might be to have a serious and inclusive talk between regional and international actors about the Strait of Hormuz.

Britain, France, and Germany all reiterated their support for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and urged the government to return to the uranium limits in the agreement.

Anne Gueguen, who is France's deputy UN ambassador, said in implicit criticism of the US that there "can't just be the policy of pressure and sanctions." She said only a global approach can deal with Iran's nuclear, ballistic missile, and regional activities.

Andreas Michaelis, a German deputy foreign minister, said these issues and Iran's threats to maritime security in the Gulf need to be addressed, and the three countries "are right now looking into options of how to foster regional cooperation and maritime security."

In a message clearly aimed at the Trump administration, he added: "We are convinced that active de-escalation by all sides will yield positive results and that an even higher pressure and unilateral actions will do the opposite."

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