Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei defended a 2020 law which prevented a return to the JCPOA nuclear agreement in a meeting with Iranian members of parliament on Sunday.

Sunday’s parliamentary session was also attended by President-elect Masoud Pezeskhian, who is seen as a reformist. Although Pezeskhian had announced that he would work more closely with the US to lift sanctions, he emphasized following his predecessor’s policies. Moreover, in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) foreign minister Zarif echoed Khamenei’s sentiments.

The law, formally known as the “Strategic Action Plan to Lift Sanctions and Protect the Iranian Nation’s Interests,” mandates parliament to enhance the country’s nuclear capacities despite US nuclear sanctions. The sanctions were a part of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a deal between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany, the European Union and Iran, which is aimed at lifting economic sanctions as a result of increased international oversight and control over Iran’s nuclear program.

However, the 2020 bill stalled negotiations by mandating a higher level of Uranium enrichment and less independent controls on the nuclear program, encouraging parliamentarians to bypass the regulations. It is part of Iran’s wider practice to circumvent sanctions, as opposed to negotiating and having them lifted. Notwithstanding sanctions imposed by Western countries, in particular due to its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Iranian oil exports have reached a new high of 1.5 million barrels per day in 2024. In addition, the International Atomic Agency (IAEA) has recently raised concerns about the peacefulness of Iran’s growing nuclear program, with the amount of enriched Uranium being sufficient to create nuclear weapons in “weeks rather than months.”