Iranian lawmakers presented a bill to the parliament's presiding board which could oblige the government to enrich uranium to 60% if new sanctions are imposed, media reported Wednesday.
Iranian lawmakers presented a bill to the parliament's presiding board
which could oblige the government to enrich uranium to 60% if new sanctions are
imposed, media reported Wednesday.
"If the other negotiating parties ratchet up the sanctions, impose new
sanctions or violate our country's nuclear right, this bill will immediately
oblige the government to... launch the Arak heavy water reactor and produce 60%
enriched uranium," ISNA news agency quoted lawmaker Mehdi Mousavi-nejad as
saying.
Under a deal struck Nov. 24,
Iran
agreed to roll back or freeze parts of its nuclear drive for six months in
exchange for modest sanctions relief and a promise by Western powers not to
impose new sanctions.
Under the accord,
Iran
pledged to limit uranium enrichment to 5%. It also will neutralize its
stockpile of medium-enriched material, which is relatively easy to convert to
the weapons-grade level of 90 percent or above.
Iran
also
is committed not to make further advances at its Fordo, Natanz and
Arak
facilities.
The
U.S.
administration hopes the interim agreement can buy time for the negotiation of
a comprehensive accord and build trust on both sides, but several
U.S.
lawmakers
have called for tougher sanctions, arguing they can wring more concessions from
Tehran
.
The Iranian bill, signed by 100 parliamentarians, was presented to the
presiding boards but has yet to be approved by the 290-member parliament.
A small heavy water research reactor at the
Arak
site
is of concern because
Tehran
theoretically could extract weapons-grade plutonium from its spent fuel if it
also builds a reprocessing facility.
Iran
agreed not to build such a facility.
Western powers suspect
Iran
's
nuclear activities mask military objectives, despite repeated denials from
Tehran
,
which insists its programme is entirely peaceful.
Experts from
Iran
and
the P5+1--
Britain
,
China
,
France
,
Russia
and
the
U.S.
plus
Germany
--have
been holding difficult negotiations on the implementation of the nuclear
accord.
The negotiations have been temporarily suspended because of Christmas holidays.
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