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.

The post Majlis Okays Outlines of Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions appeared first on Iran News Daily.

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Iran’s top atomic authority says Iranian scientists will confront the United States’ bullying targeting the Islamic Republic’s right to peaceful nuclear energy, asserting that the country will never give up this right in the face of Washington’s one-upmanship.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran nuclear scientists, following the guidelines of the Supreme Leader (of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei), are ready to face the coercion and unilateralism of the US government relating to the use of the nuclear energy,” the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) tweeted.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) stresses the country’s right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, saying that sanctions on Iranian scientists will not hamper such activities.

Iran’s strategic principles feature a far-seeing approach towards peaceful deployment of nuclear energy, the organization said, emphasizing the Islamic Republic’s insistence on exercising its right in the area despite foreign pressure by noting, “Nuclear power will remain in the dominance of the Iranian nation forever.”

The remarks came after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the outgoing US administration’s most prominent Iran hawk, tweeted a set of antagonistic comments targeting the country’s nuclear program.

Rehashing his previous remarks, Pompeo wrote, “Iran claims it doesn’t want a nuclear weapon, then threatens the world with its nuclear program.”

Iran has consistently and irreversibly distanced itself from the unconventional weapons on religious and humanitarian grounds. Tehran’s stance in the area has been sealed by a religious decree issued by Ayatollah Khamenei.

The agreement itself, which is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has allowed Iran to take such countermeasures in case of non-commitment by the other signatories. Tehran only initiated the reprisal after the US illegally left the JCPOA and the Washington-allied members of the nuclear deal suspended their trade with Iran under the White House’s pressure.

Ali Akbar Salehi made the remarks while inaugurating a project for the construction of a facility to produce stable isotopes using gas centrifuges.

The Islamic Republic has pledged to return to its commitments once the countries that are in default of their JCPOA obligations renew their commitment to the historic agreement.

The post Iranian Scientists Ready to Counter U.S. Coercion appeared first on Iran News Daily.

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency says the IAEA will not succumb to outside pressure over Iran.

Rafael Mariano Grossi made the comment in a joint press conference, in Tehran, with Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali-Akbar Slahehi.

“The IAEA is not swayed by any third party, but naturally there is some pressure which the agency will not bow to,” said the visiting IAEA chief.

He said there has been no negative change in relations between the IAEA and Tehran, and the agency’s approach vis-à-vis Iran has not changed at all.

However, the IAEA director underlined that there have always been technical questions over IAEA-Tehran relations for further transparency.

Grossi reiterated that he will not allow certain elements to take advantage of the agency to achieve their own objectives.

He said Iran is one of the locations where numerous inspections have been carried out; nevertheless, he added, there are cases which need clarification.

The IAEA director said the agency and Iran have constructive cooperation.

He said all reports published by the agency are systematic and released with special sensitivity.

Grossi described Iran-IAEA ties as significant.

Slaehi, for his part, weighed in on the relationship between Iran and the IAEA.

“A new chapter has opened between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency,” he said.

Salehi expressed hope Grossi’s visit to Iran will be fruitful.

“With this trip, our cooperation will further expand. I hope the outcome of this visit will please both sides, so much so that the two sides will fulfill their responsibilities, with the agency acting in accordance with the [IAEA’s] Statute and the Islamic Republic of Iran in line with the Safeguards Agreement and the Additional Protocol,” Salehi said.

Noting that the enemies who try to interrupt Iran’s cooperation with the agency will not remain silent, the Iranian nuclear chief said, “We will exert every effort to foil the enemies’ malevolent measures.”

“The Islamic Republic has managed [the issue] so far, and it will do so in the future.”

He described his talks with Grossi as “very constructive.”

“It was decided that the agency move forward with its work professionally and independently, and Iran, too, act within the framework of its obligations,” said the AEOI director.

Meanwhile, the   AEOI spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said yesterday that improving relations is of high importance for both Iran and the IAEA and the two have been working on resolving mutual affairs in the past two months.

He added that the two sides will not allow other countries to influence or manage the IAEA-Iran relationship.

Kamalvandi also reiterated that IAEA chief’s ongoing visit to Tehran is not related to the activation of the snapback mechanism or any other political issues.

The post IAEA Not to Bow to Foreign Pressure Over Iran appeared first on Iran News Daily.

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

Iran has the capability to continue the projects concerning the production of stable isotopes at Fordow without Russia’s help, according the spokesman of Iran nuclear agency.

“We can technically continue the work related to the production of stable isotopes without the Russians; however, politically-speaking, it would be better if Russians stay with us [on the project],” Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Monday.

“We are sure that the Russians will not abandon their projects in Iran in the wake of the U.S.’ [new] sanctions, because they are currently involved in the construction of Bushehr-2 and -3 power plants,” he added.

The spokesman noted that talks are underway with Moscow to explore the avenues for continuing the cooperation.

“Today, nothing is beyond the Iranian nuclear industry’s capabilities,” he asserted.

On December 5, Russia’s TVEL fuel company (incorporated into the Rosatom state nuclear corporation) informed Tehran that it had suspended work on a project to revamp two chains of gas centrifuges at Iran’s Fordow facility for the production of stable isotopes for medical purposes following Tehran’s step to start gas injection at the facility as part of its measures to reduce commitments to the nuclear deal.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Friday, “We are taking a break now. We don’t abandon the project. It will be fully implemented.”

He noted that Moscow will need time to react to the new circumstances, i.e. Iran’s injecting gas to the centrifuges at Fordow and the United States’ imposing new sanctions against this facility from December 15.

The post Tehran Capable of Producing Stable Isotopes Without Moscow appeared first on Iran News Daily.