Building on the Iran Nuclear Deal for International Peace and Security

After almost 20 months of intense negotiations, Iran six world powers - Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and the United States - agreed on a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to resolve the nuclear impasse concerning Iran in July 2015. The deal provided verifiable assurances that fissile material in Iran could not be diverted toward weaponization purposes; the highest standards on nuclear transparency and inspections ever negotiated; and the lifting of US and United Nations nuclear-related sanctions on Iran. The agreement was welcomed by the international community and endorsed by a UN Security Council resolution. This article examines the major factors that led Iran and the global powers to reach a deal. Those factors included each side's willingness to cash in its main bargaining chips (a short breakout time for Iran and sanctions for the United States), a change in leadership in each country, and a shifting geopolitical context. Foremost, however, was the US willingness to change its demands of Iran from no nuclear enrichment to no nuclear bomb. The JCPOA has had major implications for the global powers and Iran, affecting especially the bilateral US -Iran relationship, the regional security situations, and US domestic politics.