Iran's parliament Tuesday advanced a bill that would end UN inspections of its nuclear facilities and require the government to boost its uranium enrichment if European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal do not provide relief from oil and banking sanctions.
The vote to debate the bill, which would need to pass through several other stages before becoming law, was a show of defiance after the killing of prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh last month. Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all nuclear policies.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Iran's official IRNA news agency said 251 lawmakers in the 290-seat chamber voted in favor, after which many began chanting "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!"
The bill would give European countries three months to ease sanctions on Iran's key oil and gas sector, and to restore its access to the international banking system. The US imposed crippling sanctions on Iran after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear agreement, triggering a series of escalations between the two sides.
The bill would have authorities resume enriching uranium to 20%, which is below the threshold needed for nuclear weapons but higher than that required for civilian applications. It would also commission new centrifuges at nuclear facilities at Natanz and the underground Fordo site.
Parliament would need to hold another vote to pass the bill, which would also require approval by the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog. Lawmakers have pressed for a more confrontational approach since the US withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018.
Cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei acknowledged the limitations of such an approach on Tuesday, saying the nuclear file is under the authority of the Supreme National Security Council, and "nobody can work on it independently." Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, heads the council, which answers to the supreme leader.
Some Iranian officials have suggested that the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been regularly inspecting Iran's nuclear facilities in recent years as part of the 2015 agreement, may have been a source of intelligence for Fakhrizadeh's killers.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
