The Birth of the JCPOA: Aims and Ambitions

As the world’s geopolitics continues to pivot on a delicate balance, the Iran Nuclear Deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), remains one of the most hotly contested and consequential diplomatic agreements of our time. Revisiting the deal and understanding its implications is crucial for interpreting the ever-shifting landscape of global security.

When the JCPOA was inked in 2015, it was hailed as a diplomatic masterstroke, a deal designed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and defuse the volatile security situation in the Middle East. However, the U.S.’s withdrawal from the agreement under the Trump administration in 2018, followed by Iran’s subsequent breaches of the deal’s terms, has injected a high degree of uncertainty and apprehension into the mix.

The JCPOA, agreed upon by Iran and the P5+1 (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, plus Germany), sought to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. The agreement aimed to extend Iran’s “breakout time” – the time it would take to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon – and put in place rigorous inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).