Iran to Expel UN Nuclear Inspectors Unless US Sanctions are Lifted in February, MP Says

Tehran previously boosted its nuclear programme, producing 20 percent enriched uranium at the Fordow facility, surpassing the 3.67 percent limit imposed by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The Iranian parliament has warned that the Islamic Republic will expel International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors from its nuclear sites if the US sanctions against Tehran are not terminated.

"According to the law, if the Americans do not lift financial, banking, and oil sanctions by 21 February, we will definitely expel the IAEA inspectors from the country and will definitely end the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol", Iranian MP Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani said.

In this April 9, 2009 file picture Iranian technicians work at a new facility producing uranium fuel for a planned heavy-water nuclear reactor, just outside the city of Isfahan, 255 miles (410 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran. Iran is lagging behind on equipping a bunker with machines enriching uranium to a grade that can be turned quickly to arm nuclear warheads and now says will produce less at the site than originally planned, diplomats tell The Associated Press.

© AP Photo / Vahid Salemi

The decision comes in accordance with "The Strategic Measure for the Removal of Sanctions", adopted by the parliament in November to intensify activities in nuclear research following the assassination of top Iranian nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Iran gradually suspended its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal after Washington decided to leave it in 2018 and reimposed sanctions against Tehran. Iranian authorities urged European signatories to the nuclear deal to shield their country from the unilateral American sanctions, while the US and Israel accused the Islamic Republic of attempting to create nuclear weapons.

At the same time, Iran stressed it would comply with the 2015 accord if the sanctions are lifted.