60% enrichment bill warning to US, West: Iran MP

An Iranian lawmaker says a new bill drafted by Majlis to raise the uranium enrichment level in Iran to 60 percent was a warning to the US and Western countries.

Chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Monday that 230 Iranian lawmakers have so far signed the bill.

“Majlis has the authority to oblige the government to carry out a task and this is a right that the Constitution grants Majlis,” he added.

On December 25, Iranian lawmakers drafted a bill that, if passed, would oblige the government to produce 60-percent enriched uranium in line with the requirements of the nation’s civilian nuclear program.

The draft bill comes as key members of the US Congress have recently introduced a bill which proposes boycotting Iranian oil exports within a year and blacklisting Iran’s mining, engineering and construction industries.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs and a top nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi on Sunday pointed to the new enrichment bill, saying, “This is an idea which has been brought up in Majlis and naturally, whatever Majlis passes and becomes law…will be binding for us. This is a decision for Majlis to make.”