Araqchi’s comments came as the number of signatories to the draft bill presented to the Presiding Board of the Iranian parliament on Wednesday to require the government of President Hassan Rouhani to enrich uranium to the 60 percent grade reached the two-third quorum on Sunday.
The Iranian deputy foreign minister pointed to the draft bill, and said, “This is an idea which has been brought up at the parliament and whatever is passed in the parliament and becomes a law will be binding for us.”
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 bill was presented after Washington breached the recent Geneva deal between Iran and the world powers by blacklisting a dozen companies and individuals for evading US sanctions.
On Saturday, a senior Iranian lawmaker underlined the parliament's responsibility for safeguarding and saving the country's resources for the next generations, and said the legislature's new bill has been drafted to the same end.
“We are completely serious about approving this bill (uranium enrichment to the level of 60 percent purity),” said member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Esmayeel Kosari.
“…we will sign the bill into a law so the government and the negotiation team are notified that the talks must continue based on this law,” Kosari added.
