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Explainer
The Iran nuclear deal explained
Donald Trump has angered allies with news that he intends to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. Here's what you need to know about the landmark accord.
Published 1 May 2018 7:04am
By Nick Baker
Image: The Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran. (AAP)
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday he is pulling the United States out of the nuclear deal with Iran.
The 2015 accord was a breakthrough that ended a 12-year standoff between Iran and the West, concerned that Tehran was developing a nuclear bomb.
Here is some background on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the Iran deal is formally known:
The long road to talks
Iran's growing technical capabilities to become a nuclear-weapons state led the United Nations, the United States and the European Union to impose economic sanctions.
The sanctions were estimated to have cost it tens of billions of dollars a year in lost oil export revenues while billions in overseas assets were also frozen.
These measures are credited with bringing Iran to the negotiating table.
Talks started in June 2013 between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - plus Germany.
Negotiations centred on Iran securing sanctions relief in return for curbing its nuclear program.
By November they reached an interim deal that was finalised in April 2015 and signed on July 14 that year.
Delegates celebrate the Iran deal in Vienna in 2015. Source: AAP
At the time, President Obama said, "the United States together with the international community has achieved something that decades of animosity has not: a comprehensive long-term deal with Iran that will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon."
He also said that not arriving at the deal would have meant "a greater chance of more war in the Middle East".
While Iranian president Hassan Rouhani tweeted "#IranDeal shows constructive engagement works. With this unnecessary crisis resolved, new horizons emerge with a focus on shared challenges."
The UN Security Council adopted the deal on July 20, 2015 and it came into force on January 16, 2016.
Main points
The accord brings to a minimum of one year - for at least 10 years - the "breakout time" that Iran needs to produce enough fissile material to make an atom bomb.
Among other points, Iran agreed to slash the number of centrifuges, which can enrich uranium for nuclear fuel as well as for nuclear weapons, from more than 19,000 to 5,060, maintaining this level for 10 years.
The deal limits all enrichment to only one facility.
It also stipulates that Iran's pre-deal stockpile of 12 tonnes of low-enriched uranium - enough for several nuclear weapons if further enriched - must be reduced to 300 kilograms for 15 years.
Only enrichment to low purities is allowed, also for 15 years.
Regular inspections
The is tasked with conducting regular inspections of facilities such as uranium mines and centrifuge workshops for up to 25 years.
Inspectors have certified Iran's compliance with the deal nine times, most recently in November.
IAEA material says that "Iran is now subject to the world's most robust nuclear verification regime, and the IAEA has so far had access to all the locations it needed to visit in the country".
Lifting of sanctions
The accord paved the way for a partial lifting of international sanctions on Iran, opening the door for foreign investors with French energy giant Total and carmakers PSA and Renault quick to strike deals.
UN embargoes on the sale of conventional arms and on ballistic missiles to Iran have however been maintained up to 2020 and 2023 respectively.
What now?
A lot of uncertainty.
Mr Trump said the deal was "disastrous," an "embarrassment" to the US and that it does not contain Iran's nuclear ambitions.
He went on to call for a "new and lasting deal" with deeper restrictions on Iran's nuclear program, along with curbs on its ballistic missiles and support for militant groups across the Middle East.
The international community, or Iran, may not play along.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has said he will "spearhead a diplomatic effort to examine whether remaining JCPOA participants can ensure its full benefits for Iran".
While some conservative sectors of Iranian society have been less conciliatory.
"Trump has torn up the nuclear deal, it is time for us to burn it," said the hardline Kayhan newspaper.
France said the nuclear deal "is not dead", despite the US exit, while China vowed to "safeguard" the agreement.
- Additional reporting: AFP, AAP
