On July 14 2015, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Germany, henceforth referred to as the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN security council, and Germany). The JCPOA is an agreement between the signatories regarding Iran’s nuclear program. This agreement is a breakthrough in international relations with Iran, which have been frosty due to concern that Iran’s nuclear program was pursuing nuclear weapons capabilities. The agreement stipulates that Iran must eliminate its supplies of medium-enriched uranium, remove the majority of its low-enriched uranium and remove two thirds of its centrifuges. In return, the US, EU and UN will lift its sanctions on Iran.
Uranium needs to be enriched before it can be used in nuclear weapons or power generation. Nuclear fission is the splitting of an atom’s nucleus, creating two atoms where there was once one. This process releases a large amount of energy, which is harnessed for both nuclear warheads and nuclear power generation. The vast majority of uranium is actually not capable of nuclear fission, and uranium-235 is the only isotope capable of fission with thermal neutrons. U-235 usually only makes up 0.711 wt% of natural Uranium. Thus, uranium needs to be refined to increase the concentration of U-235 before it can be used for any purpose. For reactors, low-enriched uranium of 3-4% U-235 is usable. For nuclear weapons however, highly enriched uranium of 90% U-235 is necessary.
Iran’s nuclear program dates back to the 1950s, shortly after World War II. After the destructive potential of nuclear energy was showcased by the Americans in the destruction of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the war, the peaceful power generating capabilities began to be explored as well. Under these circumstances, America aided Iran in building its first nuclear reactors for power generation, as Iran had friendly relations with America at the time. All this changed with the Iranian revolution in 1979, which ousted the pro-American Shah of Iran from power, and resulted in a very anti-American Islamic republic seizing power in Iran. Since then, American-Iranian relations have been very frosty. Iran continued to independently develop its nuclear program.
Iran’s real troubles with its nuclear program began in 2003, when the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear regulatory authority, reported that Iran had not declared some of its nuclear enrichment and reprocessing activities. Nuclear enrichment is essential for creating nuclear weapons grade material. The US started to impose economic sanctions against Iran over concern for their nuclear weapons potential, and the rest of the western hemisphere followed suit. Iran’s former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, took a combative, aggressive approach to foreign policy with the Western powers, which resulted in increased tensions and even tighter sanctions. Though negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and the sanctions started in 2006, these negotiations stalled and the two sides could not reach a satisfactory agreement.
However, in 2013, Iran elected a new president, Hassan Rouhani, who has taken a more conciliatory, moderate approach to diplomacy. With the blessing of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, the new government was able to hammer out the current agreement with the P5+1. Under the agreement, Iran’s capability to generate enriched uranium will be greatly curtailed, and Iran will have to give up all its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, and 98% of its low-enriched uranium stockpile. In return, over time, all of the EU’s and UN’s sanctions will be lifted on Iran. It is important to note that while the US will lift its nuclear-related sanctions, the US also has other sanctions on Iran for things like “sponsorship of terrorism” and human rights abuses, and these will not be lifted.
The negotiation of the JCPOA agreement between Iran and the P5+1 could possibly, though unlikely, mark a watershed moment in global diplomacy. This could mark the beginning of stability in the volatile Middle East, as Iran was one of the countries in the area most opposed to interaction with the West and the rest of the world. The lifting of sanctions will result in a boom in the Iranian economy, as it reintegrates with the world and reclaims over a decade of stifled growth. While this is a good first step, the problems and issues afflicting the Middle East are myriad and cannot be solved with simply signing an agreement on nuclear weapons development, which only affects Iran. It is unlikely that the US relations with Iran will improve significantly, and as long as Iran is an Islamic republic fundamentally opposed to Western interference, Iran will always be cautious toward America and Europe. Nonetheless, the signing of the agreement can only have a positive effect on the world as a whole.
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