
The Iranian Supreme National Security Council on Saturday endorsed a law intended to reduce international monitoring of Iran's nuclear program if sanctions on the country are not lifted in two months.
"The aforementioned law does not create a specific issue that damages national interests," the Council said in a statement quoted by the Xinhua news agency.
The statement added that controversies that "undermine the dignity and status of the country's legal institutions and damage national unity and cohesion" are what is contrary to national interests.
The Council therefore called on all internal Iranian parties to end "fruitless quarrels," and warned it will not allow national interests to be endangered by "political games."
The Iranian parliament passed the bill this past Tuesday. The law urges the administration of President Hassan Rouhani to take several steps to increase Iran's nuclear activities for civil purposes, and may decrease international monitoring of these activities by the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA).
However, the government promptly said the move, proposed in response to the assassination of top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, could not change Iran’s nuclear policy.
Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal in response to US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018.
US President-elect Joe Biden has indicated he would return to the nuclear deal with Iran, and a close aide to him said recently that rejoining the Iran nuclear deal was high on Biden’s agenda.
The IAEA’s newest report, quoted by Reuters on Friday, found that Iran plans to install hundreds more advanced uranium-enriching centrifuges at the underground plant in Natanz, in a further breach of its deal with major powers.
An IAEA released prior to that found that Iran continues to increase its stockpile of low-enriched uranium far beyond the limits set in the deal.