Iran votes in favour of increasing uranium enrichment

The Iranian Parliament yesterday voted in favour of a law requiring the government to boost annual enrichment of uranium to 20 per cent and stop international inspections of the country’s nuclear facilities.

The vote came following the assassination of the country’s top scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on Friday.

The law, known as the Strategic Act to Revoke Sanctions, forces the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) to produce and store at least 120 kilogrammes of enriched uranium with 20 per cent purity at the Fordow nuclear facility every year, and to fulfil the country’s peaceful industrial demands with uranium enriched above 20 per cent.

The law has yet to be approved by the country’s Guardian Council.

While no one has officially claimed responsibility for the scientist’s assassination, on Friday, the New York Times quoted a US official and intelligence officers as saying that Israel “is responsible for the attack on the scientist”, noting that the late scientist has been a target of the Israeli Mossad for years.

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