Executive Regulations on Countering Sanctions Communicated

Iran’s first vice presidency on Monday notified executive regulations of the law on countering sanctions to relevant organizations for implementation. 
The Cabinet had passed the 11-clause regulations on Dec. 20 on the recommendation of the Foreign Ministry, the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran, Plan and Budget Organization and the vice presidency for legal affairs, ISNA reported.  
The nine-article law, dubbed Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions and Protect Iranian Nation’s Interests, was passed by the parliament earlier this month and requires the government to take nuclear measures if sanctions imposed by the United States are not removed or nullified within a specific timeframe. 
In 2018, Washington reinstated the sanctions lifted under the landmark nuclear deal in 2015, after unilaterally quitting the multinational agreement, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.  
The European parties failed to offset the effects of US sanctions, prompting Iran to take remedial steps in 2019 by reducing its compliance with JCPOA as per the deal’s provisions. 
The new Iranian legislation, however, requires executive bodies to take further steps beyond the deal’s limits. Despite its initial opposition to the parliamentary bill, the government passed the relevant regulations after it eventually became law. 
Based on the executive regulations, AEOI is entrusted with a number of nuclear tasks once the needed funds and technical requirements are supplied. 
The duties include preparing a comprehensive report on all dimensions of uranium enrichment up to 20% purity, stockpiling at least 120 kilograms of fissile material within a year for peaceful use, installing 1,000 IR2M and IR6M advanced centrifuges for the production of 500 kilograms of low-enriched uranium within a three-month and one-year period respectively. 
The organization must also resume the process of launching the uranium metal production plant in Isfahan so that it can become operational by the end of the timeframe. 
At the same time, other government bodies, including the ministries of oil, foreign affairs, economy and industries, AEOI, the Central Bank of Iran and the vice presidency for legal affairs are tasked with providing updates about the JCPOA parties’ implementation of their commitments by Feb. 18. 
The government will then make the executive decisions based on the reports and after taking into consideration the directives of the Supreme National Security Council and the purpose of the law as well as national interests.  
Government Spokesman Ali Rabiei said on Tuesday that the administration has passed the regulations by considering “the current sensitivities, national interests and ways of implementing them for the effective nullification of sanctions”.