Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; Persian: برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک, romanized: barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (برجام, BARJAM)), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program reached in Vienna on July 14, 2015, between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, United States—plus Germany) together with the European Union.
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action | |
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Officials announcing the agreement | |
Created | 14 July 2015 |
Ratified | N/A (ratification not required) |
Date effective |
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Location | Vienna, Austria |
Signatories | Current China France Germany Iran Russia United Kingdom European Union Withdrawn |
Purpose | Nuclear non-proliferation |
Formal negotiations toward JCPOA began with the adoption of the Joint Plan of Action, an interim agreement signed between Iran and the P5+1 countries in November 2013. Iran and the P5+1 countries engaged in negotiations for the next 20 months and, in April 2015, agreed on an "Iran nuclear deal framework" for the final agreement. In July 2015, Iran and the P5+1 confirmed agreement on the plan, along with the "Roadmap Agreement" between Iran and the IAEA.
The negotiations primarily centered around imposing restrictions on Iran's critical nuclear facilities, including the Arak IR-40 reactor, Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Gachin Uranium Mine, Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, Isfahan Uranium Conversion Plant, Natanz Uranium Enrichment Plant, and the Parchin Military Research complex.
The agreement was formally activated on 20 January 2014. The United States ultimately withdrew from the pact in 2018 and new sanctions were imposed under the policy of "maximum pressure." The new sanctions applied to all countries and companies doing trade or business with Iran and cut the country off the international financial system, rendering the economic provisions of the nuclear deal framework null.