20%-Purity Enrichment Pending Presidential Order

Iran will initiate its plan to enrich uranium to 20% purity as per the new legislation when the president issues the executive order, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said. 
“AEOI must implement the parliamentary legislation but the government must first notify the regulations and then the president must issue the executive order,” Ali Akbar Salehi also said on state TV on Saturday, IRNA reported.  
Iran has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency of its plan to enrich uranium to 20% purity at the Fordow facility as per the recent law. 
“We have given a letter in this regard to our representative in Vienna to be handed over to the agency,” Salehi said.  
Iran had agreed, among other nuclear commitments, to limit its enrichment level to 3.67% under the 2015 deal with the world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which had lifted international sanctions against Tehran in return. 
However, it exceeded that level as part of its remedial measures in 2019, a year after the United States pulled out and reinstated sweeping sanctions that the remaining parties failed to counter. 
JCPOA had also banned enrichment at the underground Fordow site, but Tehran brought the facility into operation again as it took reversible steps beyond the deal’s limits in response to the sanctions that completely jeopardized its interests. 
Tehran’s enrichment has only gone up to 4.5% so far, well short of the 20% it achieved before the deal and the 90% that is weapons-grade. 

Parliamentary Demand

The Iranian Parliament has now called for further measures to reduce its compliance with the deal, including the resumption of enrichment to 20% purity, within a timeframe, unless JPCOA benefits are revived before the deadline. 
Lawmakers passed a related law last month in response to the assassination of the country’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, which Tehran has blamed on Israel. 
The enrichment level is the latest of several announcements by Iran to IAEA about its new nuclear plans. 
“Iran has informed the Agency that in order to comply with a legal measure recently passed by the country’s parliament, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran intends to produce low-enriched uranium to 20% purity at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant,” IAEA said in a statement.
“Iran’s letter to the Agency [dated Dec. 31] ... did not say when this enrichment activity would take place.” 
Salehi said AEOI is on standby to follow orders. 
“When the commander orders, we can initiate very quickly,” he said.