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| Fig. 1: A possibly nuclear Iran and its contentious neighbors. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
The Iran Deal, otherwise known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was an agreement reached by the five permanent members of the Security Council and Iran in 2015. It was put in place to ensure that Iran would not develop nuclear weapons capability and further destabilize a region frought with conflict. (Fig. 1 shows Iran's immediate neighbors.) The U.S. recently backed out of this deal. The agreement covered areas ranging from enrichment to inspections and transparency. [1] Some of the notable concessions include: Iran would not enrich Uranium past 3.67 percent for 15 years, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Association) would have regular access to all facilities, Iran would only enrich Uranium at one facility. [1] The international community recognized the benefits of the Iran deal and saw it as an important step in promoting peace in the region. [2]
Iran would not be able to use computer models to study nuclear explosions. [1]
Enrichment limited well short of the level required to create nuclear weapons. [2]
Irans facility at Arak would have been rebuilt so that it could not store weapons grade plutonium. [1]
The international community has made it clear that it does not appreciate the U.S. leaving the Iran deal. [3] Beyond that, Iran is now in the same dangerous position that it was before 2015. [2] The U.S. is no longer preventing them from enriching Uranium at high levels, studying nuclear explosions, or storing weapons-grade plutonium.
© Bennett Williams. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] G. Allison, "The Iran Nuclear Deal, by the Numbers: Assessing the Impact of the Accord in Three Charts," The Atlantic, 3 Apr 15.
[2] W. Sherman, "How We Got the Iran Deal, and Why We'll Miss It," Foreign Affairs 97, No. 5, September/October 2018.
[3] W. J. Broad, "Plutonium Is Unsung Concession in Iran Nuclear Deal," New York Times, 7 Sep 15.
