Iran approves bill to suspend U.N. inspections of nuclear facilities

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• In Iran, lawmakers enacted a bill that aimed to block U.N inspectors in checking on the country’s nuclear facilities.
• The bill was also Iran’s way to end all the sanctions imposed by the West on oil and banking.
• Iran has consistently denied allegations of nuclear weapon development, saying its facilities are for peacekeeping only.

On Tuesday,  lawmakers in Iran passed a bill that would stop the U.N of its nuclear plants’ inspections and entail the government to increase its uranium supply if European consigners to the 2015 nuclear agreement do not give out relief from banking and oil sanctions.

The move to support the bill, which would also need the nod of constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council, was a defiance display following the murder of a well known Iranian nuclear expert the previous month. All nuclear policies are still up to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, the Parliament Speaker, was cited by state television as commenting legislators were hoping to stop all sanctions through the firm decision they passed.

While the final voting was not released right away,  a poll about an earlier discussion of the bill on first Tuesday showed 251 lawmakers out of 290 of the chamber voted for approval, and many were seen shouting “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” as reported by the official IRNA news agency.

The bill’s passage would mean that European countries are given a month to guard down sanctions on Iran’s vital gas and oil sector and reestablish its entry to the global banking system. The U.S. sanctioned Iran following President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal, prompting a series of heightened conflicts between them.

The act would let authorities continue enriching uranium up to 20%, lower than the limit required for nuclear weapons but more than the necessary for civilian uses. The bill would also warrant new extractors at nuclear plants at Fordo underground site and Natanz.

Legislators have pushed for a more aggressive method since the U.S. pulled out from the 2018 nuclear deal.

On Tuesday, Ali Rabiei, the cabinet spokesperson, admitted there are limitations of their approach, explaining the nuclear access is falls on the hands of the Supreme National Security Council, adding that no one can decide on it autonomously. President Hassan Rouhani chairs the Guardian Council, which reports to the supreme leader.

The bill was initially shelved in the parliament in August but was revived following the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who led a program that the West and Israel said was a military action determining the viability of nuclear weapon development. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that the program stopped in 2003.

While Israel continued to claim that Iran still aims to develop nuclear weapons, citing Tehran’s air-to-air missile program and studies into other weapon technologies, Iran has consistently said its facility is for peaceful purposes.

Source: Associated Press