Iranian Lawmakers Approve Draft Bill Barring Nuclear Inspectors

Iranian lawmakers have overwhelmingly approved a draft bill which would increase uranium enrichment to 20%, raise the amount of low-level enriched uranium stocks, and bar international inspectors from visiting the country’s nuclear facilities. The bill, which passed its first reading with 251 votes in favor out of 290 members of the country’s parliament, further erodes Iran’s compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or Iran nuclear deal signed in 2015 with the world powers. Following the vote on Tuesday, Iranian lawmakers chanted: “Down with America”, “Down with Israel”, “Martyrdom is our honor” and “Blood in our veins is a gift to our [Supreme] Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei]”, Anadolu Agency reported. The draft bill also would allow Iran to withdraw in two months from the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The bill is, in part, a reaction to the assassination on Friday of Iran’s chief nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an attack which Iran says was carried out by Israel. “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,” Abolfazl Amooei, the spokesman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said, according to the state-run PressTV.