Iran has enacted a new law to increase uranium enrichment and to expel international nuclear inspectors if U.S. sanctions are not lifted by early February. Iranian lawmakers approved the measure in response to the assassination of the nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh last Friday. Israel is widely assumed to have carried out the attack, likely with a blessing from the United States.
Meanwhile, The Daily Beast is reporting President Trump has given a green light to intensify a U.S. campaign against Iran under one condition — that it doesn’t start “World War III.” The U.S. envoy for Iran, Elliott Abrams, has said the Trump administration will continue to intensify the already devastating sanctions up until Trump leaves office.
Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden has reaffirmed his commitment to rejoin the landmark Iran nuclear deal once he takes office. In an interview with The New York Times, Biden said, “The last goddamn thing we need in that part of the world is a buildup of nuclear capability.”