Iran’s parliament on Sunday approved an outline of a bill that would allow the government to implement a historic nuclear deal reached with world powers, the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said.
The bill allows the government to withdraw from implementing the agreement if world powers do not lift sanctions, IRNA said.
Final approval of the bill is expected later this week after further discussions.
The landmark deal would curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions. Western nations have long suspected Iran of secretly pursuing nuclear arms, allegations denied by Tehran, which says its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes.
“The government should stop its voluntary cooperation in implementation of the deal if the other side fails to remain committed to lifting sanctions,” the bill read, adding that the response should be the same if new sanctions are imposed or previous ones restored.
IRNA said 139 lawmakers out of 253 present voted for the bill. The Islamic Consultative Assembly has 290 seats.
The session was unusually tense, with hardliners repeatedly trying to prevent a vote on the deal.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who makes all final decisions on key policies, has said it is up to parliament to approve or reject the deal.
Lawmaker Ruhollah Hosseinian, an opponent of the deal, said parliament needs to discuss it in detail. Until now, it has only been reviewed by a special parliamentary committee.
“Every [international] agreement must be approved and passed by the parliament, otherwise, it won’t be legal,” Hosseinian said.
Hardliners hope to stall approval of the deal in order to weaken Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s moderate administration ahead of parliamentary elections in February.
Meanwhile, Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who has been detained in Iran for more than a year on charges including espionage, has been convicted, a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary said.
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi confirmed the verdict in comments aired on state TV late on Sunday night.
“He has been convicted, but I don’t have the details,” Ejehi said.
Ejehi discussed Rezaian’s case during a press conference earlier in the day that was restricted to Iranian media. Initial Iranian media reports, which quoted Ejehi as saying that a verdict had been issued, did not include any comment that Rezaian had been convicted.
Only the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency eventually reported the conviction comment, and later in the day state TV broadcast Ejehi’s comment that Rezaian has been convicted. State TV aired selected video of the press conference and called Rezaian an “American spy.”
Ejehi said Rezaian is eligible to appeal the conviction within 20 days.
The Post’s executive editor, Martin Baron, called the guilty verdict “an outrageous injustice.”
The newspaper is working with Rezaian’s family and legal counsel to swiftly appeal the verdict and push for his release on bail pending a final decision, Baron said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique