Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA) Signed After Years of Negotiations

Iran and six world powers reach a landmark nuclear agreement under which Iran limits its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of crippling international sanctions.

After nearly two years of intensive negotiations, Iran reached the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on July 14, 2015, with the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and China (the P5+1). Under the deal, Iran agreed to drastically reduce its uranium stockpile, limit enrichment to 3.67%, restrict centrifuge numbers, redesign the Arak reactor to prevent plutonium production, and allow intrusive IAEA inspections. In return, the US and EU lifted billions of dollars in sanctions, freeing approximately $100 billion in frozen Iranian assets. The deal was hailed by Obama as a historic diplomatic achievement and was praised globally as the best available nonproliferation mechanism. Critics, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, called it deeply flawed.