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Image posted, Reuters
A satellite image of the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran
The Guardian Council in Iran passed legislation allowing the suspension of United Nations inspections of nuclear sites and the increase in the level of uranium enrichment.
The legislation requires the government to resume uranium enrichment to 20%, a much higher rate than the 3.67% agreed to in the 2015 nuclear deal, if sanctions on Iran are not eased within two months.
Previously, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed his opposition to this legislation.
This event follows the assassination of prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in a mysterious road attack on the outskirts of the capital Tehran on Friday.
Iran holds Israel responsible for the attack, and Israel has not publicly commented on its allegations of involvement in the operation.
Fakhrizadeh played a key role in Iran’s nuclear program, but the government insists that its nuclear activities are completely peaceful.
Iran has faced tough Western sanctions aimed at preventing it from developing nuclear weapons.
What does the new Iranian law mean?
Under the law, which was passed by Iran’s Guardian Council, Tehran will give two months to European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal to work to ease sanctions on Iran’s oil and monetary sectors after the United States left. the agreement in 2018.
Image posted, fake images
President Rouhani has voiced his opposition to the new bill
In the event that sanctions are not eased before the deadline, the government will increase uranium enrichment to 20% and install sophisticated centrifuges to enrich uranium at its Natanz and Fordo nuclear facilities.
It will also prevent UN inspectors from accessing these sites.
On Wednesday, Iran’s Fars news agency reported that the speaker of parliament today asked, in an official letter from the president, to implement the new law.
Before the law was passed, President Rouhani said his government did not pass legislation that he described as “detrimental to diplomacy.”
US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018 and reimposed tough economic sanctions on Tehran.
President-elect Joe Biden said he would rejoin the United States into the deal, negotiated under Barack Obama, and lift sanctions if Tehran returned to “strictly comply with the nuclear deal.”
Iran violated its uranium enrichment level in July 2019, but the enrichment level has remained stable at 4.5% since then.
Low enriched uranium, which typically has a uranium-235 concentration of 3-5%, can be used to produce fuel for power plants. The uranium used to make weapons is enriched to 90% or more.
Suspicions that Iran was using its nuclear program as a cover to develop a nuclear bomb led the European Union, the United States and the United Nations to impose sanctions in 2010.
The 2015 deal aims to verifiably restrict the Iranian program in exchange for sanctions relief.
