During a visit to Venezuela, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif asserted that military cooperation with Venezuela would continue despite U.S. economic sanctions.

Iran's Parliament approved a bill requiring the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) to produce at least 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium annually at the Fordow nuclear facility. Production must begin within two months and the material must be stored in Iran. The bill also requires the AEOI to increase monthly production of enriched uranium to 500 kilograms; install and begin enrichment in at least 1,000 IR-2m centrifuges at the underground facility at Natanz; move enrichment research and development operations on the IR-6 centrifuges to Fordow; use 1000 IR-6 machines for enrichment at Fordow by March 2021; and return the Arak heavy water reactor to its "pre-JCPOA condition" within four months. Within two months, the AEOI must suspend access to nuclear sites beyond what is required by the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Additional Protocol and stop voluntary implementation of the Protocol if Europe fails to restore banking relations with Iran that allow for the sale of oil.

Iran has begun construction on the grounds of Natanz enrichment facility, according to satellite imagery. The work has taken place since August and includes a new or regraded road to the south of Natanz near a former firing range, the presence of construction equipment, and possible excavation. At the same time, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran is building a new underground facility to assemble advanced centrifuges at Natanz. A similar facility was destroyed in an explosion last summer, in a reported act of sabotage.

Using counterterrorism authorities, the United States sanctioned the Iranian Petroleum Ministry, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), and a NIOC subsidiary that manages Iran's oil tankers. The sanctions also targeted a number of front companies, subsidiaries, and individuals associated with these entities, as well as Iranian Oil Minister Bijan N. Zanganeh, and four people involved in transporting Iranian gasoline to Venezuela. U.S. officials accuse these entities of providing financial support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). While many of the companies and individuals had previously been sanctioned under different authorities, the new sanctions explicitly link Iran's petroleum sector to terrorism and the IRGC. Analysts speculate that such sanctions carry more political and symbolic weight and would be more difficult to unwind in the future.