Monday, Nov 01, 2004
Iran bill approves uranium enrichment
TEHERAN, OCT. 31. Iran's Parliament on Sunday approved the outline of a bill that requires the Government to resume uranium enrichment - an issue of national pride that provides a rare point of agreement between conservatives and reformers in Iranian politics.
Shouts of "Death to America!'' rang out from lawmakers in the conservative-dominated Parliament after the unanimous vote.
Discussion later
Washington has been Iran's prime adversary in its quest to become a nuclear nation, which Teheran maintains is for purely peaceful nuclear energy purposes. The United States, which has secured some support from European nations, accuses Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons.
Lawmakers stood up to show their ``yes'' vote for the bill, details of which would be discussed at a later date.
"The unanimous and resolute vote of the lawmakers ... is the voice of the Iranian Parliament and nation,'' the Parliament Speaker, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, said, drawing the anti-American shouts. Immediately after the draft legislation was approved in an open session of Parliament, Mr. Haddad Adel called the vote a message to Iranians and the world.
"The message of the absolute vote for the Iranian nation is that the Parliament supports national interests,'' he said. ``And the message for the outside world is that the Parliament won't give in to coercion,'' he said amid shouts of ``Allahu akbar''.
AP
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