Approval of Urgent Plan 'Obligation of the Government to Preserve Nuclear Achievements' in Parliament

On Tuesday, February 3, the Islamic Consultative Assembly approved the urgent plan 'Obligation of the Government to Preserve Nuclear Achievements'. The representatives have mandated the government to annul the temporary Geneva agreement if the U.S. Congress increases sanctions against Iran. The urgency of this plan was approved with 173 votes in favor, 9 against, and 5 abstentions out of 205 representatives present at the session. Some representatives supporting the plan stated that 'American excessiveness' and the approval of new sanctions in the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, along with threats of further sanctions, were reasons for the urgency of this plan. According to the Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (House of the People), Ebrahim Karkhaney, a member of the Energy Commission of the Parliament, stated in support of the plan that 'Americans have repeatedly threatened the Islamic Republic of Iran with intensified sanctions, and even the President of the United States explicitly states that if Iran does not comply with American demands, I will be the first to raise the issue of intensified sanctions against Iran in Congress.' These statements come despite Barack Obama's recent opposition to any congressional plan to intensify sanctions against Iran, stating that he would veto it. Obama has made it clear that weakening diplomatic efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear dispute in the current sensitive situation is a mistake. The proponents of this plan have stated that it is 'to support the negotiating team and in line with the guidelines of the Supreme Leader and in response to the American ultimatum to impose their illegitimate demands on the nuclear negotiating team.' Ongoing negotiations between Iran and the 1+5 group have been extended until the end of June, and both sides have expressed hope to reach a 'political agreement' by the end of March and a comprehensive agreement by the end of the seven-month negotiation deadline. The Tasnim News Agency published the full text of the plan that was urgently approved today, which mandates the government to immediately annul the Joint Action Plan (temporary Geneva agreement) and take the following actions if any new sanctions or increases in sanctions by the U.S. are approved or imposed: activating enrichment centers without any restrictions on the type and number of centrifuges and the amount of enriched materials produced... producing and supplying the nuclear fuel needed by the country based on an annual minimum of 190,000 enrichment fuel for each 1,000 megawatt power plant... accelerating the launch and operation of the 40 megawatt heavy water research reactor in Arak based on domestic design... taking action to enrich uranium to 20% at the Fordow nuclear facility and at any necessary level... expanding research and development activities in enrichment without any restrictions... prohibiting any inspections, oversight, and cooperation with the agency beyond the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)... prohibiting the exit of any enriched materials from the country and not accepting restrictions on the location, level, and quantity of enriched material storage. The text also states that the violation of all sanctions at once is a condition for the commencement of the comprehensive nuclear agreement implementation.