Iran Nuclear Deal

• Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) known commonly as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program reached in Vienna in 2015.
• The agreement took place between P5+1 (China, France, Russia, UK, US + Germany).
• The nuclear deal was endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231, adopted on July 20, 2015. 
• Iran’s compliance with the nuclear-related provisions of the JCPOA is verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) according to certain requirements set forth in the agreement. 

Timeline for Implementation

• July 14, 2015, Finalization Day: conclusion of the agreement. Iran begins providing the IAEA with information necessary for the agency to complete its investigation into past activities related to nuclear weapons development.
   
• October 18, 2015, Adoption Day: 90 days after the passage of the UN Security Council Resolution endorsing the deal (July 20, 2015). Adoption day triggers Iran and the P5+1 to take steps to meet the commitments to fully implement the JCPOA.
   
• January 16, 2016, Implementation Day: the IAEA certifies that Iran has taken the key steps to restrict its nuclear program and has put in place increased monitoring. The IAEA’s report on implementation day triggers U.S., EU, and UN sanctions relief.
   
• October 2023, Transition Day: Eight years after adoption day (or the IAEA reaching its broader conclusion on Iran’s nuclear program, whichever is sooner). Transition day triggers the UN to lift missile restrictions, Iran to seek ratification of its additional protocol, the EU to terminate all remaining nuclear sanctions, United States to remove certain entities from the sanctioned list, and the United States to seek legislative termination of certain sanctions.
   
• October 2025, Termination Day: Ten years after adoption day. Termination day terminates Resolution 2231 and the Security Council closes Iran’s nuclear file.

Violations of the JCPOA to Date

US withdrawal from the deal

• Despite Iran’s verified compliance with the deal, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA on May 8, 2018, and subsequently re-imposed all U.S. sanctions on Iran lifted by the accord.
• Then-U.S. President Donald Trump cited the deal’s sunset provisions and its failure to account for Iran’s ballistic missile program, among other things, as impetus for withdrawal from the accord.
• The United States did not cite any evidence of Iranian noncompliance with the deal when it withdrew, and Iran remained in full compliance with the deal for the year after U.S. withdrawal. 
• In May 2019, the United States further announced the termination of designated sanctions waivers for cooperative nuclear projects detailed in the JCPOA, including the transfer of enriched uranium out of Iran, the transfer and storage of heavy water outside of Iran, and the construction of additional reactor units at the Bushehr nuclear reactor.
• The Trump administration pledged at that time to extend (for 90 days) several of the waivers prescribed by the nuclear deal to allow certain nuclear cooperation projects in Iran to proceed, including waivers for the Arak reactor conversion, the Fordow facility conversion, the Bushehr reactor and the Tehran research reactor.
• However, over the course of two years, the Trump administration  terminated all of the waivers for cooperative nuclear projects, except for operation of the Bushehr power plant.

Iran’s Violations

• Iran began to incrementally violate the agreement in May 2019. Tehran tied its decision to breach the JCPOA’s limits to the deal’s failure to deliver sanctions relief envisioned by the accord and, implicitly, U.S. withdrawal from the deal.
• Iran is still a JCPOA participant and says it will return to compliance with the accord if its demands on sanctions relief are met.

Iran’s New Nuclear Law

On Dec. 2, 2020, Iran’s Guardian Council passed a new legislation mandating Iran to significantly rachet up its nuclear activities. The legislation explicitly outlines a series of phased measures to be taken in the months following the law’s Dec. 23 ratification.

Under the new law, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) is obligated to:

• Immediately boost enrichment levels to 20 percent uranium-235, and store at least 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched fuel annually.
• Immediately increase Iran’s monthly uranium output and enrichment capacity by at least 500 kilograms.
   
• Within two months’ time, if sanctions relief is not delivered, suspend implementation of the additional protocol to Iran’s comprehensive safeguards agreement and halt compliance with the additional monitoring mechanisms mandated by the JCPOA.
   
• Within three months’ time, enrich uranium using at least 1,000 IR-2m centrifuges.
   
• Within three months’ time, enrich uranium with and conduct research and development activities on 164 IR-6 centrifuges. Within one year, increase the number of centrifuges to 1,000 IR-6 machines.
   
• Within five months’ time, inaugurate a uranium metal production facility at the Esfahan fuel fabrication plant.

Re-imposition of sanctions

• Resolution 2231 stipulates that if a vote on a resolution to continue the sanctions lifting is not called for within 30 days of notification, then all UN sanctions lifted on Iran per the nuclear deal are automatically re-imposed.
• Pompeo announced on Sept. 19, 2020, that all UN sanctions lifted in accordance with the nuclear deal were re-imposed on Iran.