Iran advances bill to end UN inspections of its nuclear facilities

Iran’s Parliament on Tuesday advanced a bill to end UN inspections of its nuclear facilities and require the government to boost its uranium enrichment if European countries do not provide relief from oil and banking sanctions.

This was a show of defiance after the killing of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist last month.

IRNA news agency said that 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. It allows authorities to resume enriching uranium to 20%, which currently is 4.5%.

Experts warn that Iran now has enough low-enriched uranium to reprocess into fuel for at least two atomic bombs if it chose to pursue them.