The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was a nuclear agreement signed in 2015 between Iran and seven world powers. It allowed Iran to enrich uranium to 3.67%. Donald Trump withdrew America from the deal three years later, in 2018.
The JCPOA was not a Senate-confirmed treaty, which meant a future president could abandon it unilaterally. It removed some sanctions but left others in place. It allowed Iran to export more oil but failed to unlock much foreign direct investment: in 2016, the first full year after the deal was signed, Iran's FDI inflows were just 0.7% of GDP, up from 0.5% in 2015.
The JCPOA was negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (America, Britain, China, France and Russia)—the so-called P5—plus Germany and the EU. Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign-policy chief from 2009 to 2014, chaired the negotiations. The assembled envoys felt a sense of historic common purpose; the P5 were remarkably unified in their opposition to an Iranian bomb. That unity survived even crises such as the political protests that swept Ukraine in 2013: Western and Russian negotiators would leave the Iran meetings in Vienna to denounce each other over Ukraine, then return for constructive talks. China was described as "a team player" on the Iran nuclear file.
The JCPOA contained a "snapback" provision allowing signatories to reimpose UN sanctions lifted by the deal if Iran violated its obligations. Once triggered, the sanctions are automatically restored unless the Security Council votes to do otherwise—a design that prevents Russia and China from wielding their vetoes to block them. On August 28th 2025 Britain, France and Germany notified the UN Security Council that Iran was in breach, starting a 30-day countdown. The snapback provision itself was set to expire on October 18th 2025. Russia proposed extending the deadline by six months; the Europeans were willing to discuss the idea but worried it was a stalling tactic.
Rafael Grossi, the IAEA's director-general, called the deal an "empty shell". Some Iranian lawmakers drafted a bill urging withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a halt to negotiations with the West and suspension of co-operation with the IAEA. Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign-policy chief, said on September 1st that "the window of diplomacy is still open"—but compliance with the old deal would not satisfy Donald Trump, who wants Iran to relinquish its enrichment programme altogether.
In April 2025 America and Iran entered nuclear talks, which by late April had reached their fourth round. Unlike the JCPOA, these talks are bilateral rather than multilateral. Steve Witkoff, America's Middle East envoy, met Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, at the Omani embassy in Rome. Iran wants any new deal to be a Senate-confirmed treaty and seeks economic assurances beyond sanctions relief. Ali Khamenei, who was a sceptic during the original JCPOA negotiations, is now the talks' champion. The rial has risen 25% against the dollar since the talks began—a far greater rise than the JCPOA prompted.
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