Iranian lawmakers who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” voted for the general outlines of a draft bill that would require the government of President Hassan Rouhani to dramatically reduce its commitments to the already fragile nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The bill has yet to be adopted in a second session; it then would have to get a seal of approval from the supervisory Guardian Council. The legislation calls for a jump of 20% in Iran’s uranium enrichment, well above the 3.67% rate Iran agreed to under the accord. The bill says a 120-kilogram (265-pound) stockpile of the product would have to be prepared within two months of the adoption of the legislation and would have to be stored exclusively inside Iran.
The bill further demands that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran halt its voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol within three months if the European signatories of the JCPOA “fail to abide by their side of the accord.”
The spokesman for the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Abolfazl Amouee, said the key goal behind the bill is “to unlock Iran’s nuclear cycle,” on which the JCPOA has placed severe restrictions in exchange for a removal of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
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