Majlis Okays Outlines of Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Majlis lawmakers have approved the generalities of a draft bill aimed at tackling sanctions imposed on the country and preventing international inspectors from accessing the country’s nuclear facilities.

During an open parliamentary session on Tuesday, 251 out of 260 lawmakers present voted ‘yes’ to the outlines of the draft bill, which, if adopted, will require the Iranian administration to suspend more commitments under a 2015 multilateral nuclear deal.

The details of the bill will be reviewed in a second reading.

The bill instructs the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) to produce at least 120 kilograms of 20%-enriched uranium annually and stockpile it in the country and use it for peaceful purposes as needed.

After the bill is signed into law, the government also has a duty to meet, fully and without delay, domestic industries’ need for uranium enriched up to a purity level of 20 percent and above for peaceful purposes.

Under the bill, the government would also be obliged to raise the country’s uranium enrichment and production to realize the enrichment capacity of 190 thousand separative work units (SWU).

The bill also requires the government to make use of advanced centrifuges, including IR6 and IR2M types.

The government will also be duty-bound to halt inspections of its nuclear sites which are beyond the Additional Protocol.

The double-urgency of the motion had already been approved on parliament floor. The move followed the assassination of eminent Iranian nuclear and defense scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Lawmakers adopted the motion to tackle anti-Iran sanctions following the assassination of prominent Iranian nuclear and defence scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

“The country’s nuclear program must proceed according to the needs of our country. When the plan is approved, we expect that it (the nuclear program) will be strengthened and developed, and that this trend will accelerate,” he added.

Speaking during Tuesday’s session, Abolfazl Amooei, the spokesman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said the plan is meant to open the locks placed on the country’s nuclear program and advance the goals of nuclear martyrs like Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was assassinated by suspected Israel-tied terrorists on Friday.

The plan, Amooei said, also seeks to make imposing sanctions against the Iranian people a “costly” measure for Western countries.

“The country’s nuclear program must proceed according to the needs of our country. When the plan is approved, we expect that it (the nuclear program) will be strengthened and developed, and that this trend will accelerate,” he added.