newsweek

Iran Hits Back at Nuclear Watchdog After Uranium Enrichment Warning
By David Brennan On 12/11/20 at 8:50 AM EST
Iran's top representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned the body not to overstep the limits of its mandate. The warning comes as Tehran threatens to move further from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal in response to American sanctions and the alleged Israeli assassination of one of its top scientists.

The Iranian parliament last month approved a new bill instructing the country's atomic energy body to increase its uranium enrichment program and block international inspectors from its nuclear sites, both prohibited under the 2015 JCPOA which has been in limbo since President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. in 2018.

The bill was a response to the assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, killed on a country road outside Tehran last month. Iran has blamed Israel for the killing, and suggested the U.S. may have assisted the operation.