Fall 2017 JPI

2015 Iran Nuclear Deal Negotiations
Maria Ali
INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW
A historic deal on Iran’s nuclear program was said by many to make the world, and especially the
Middle East, safer. The deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed
between Tehran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
(United States, United Kingdom, Russia, France and China) plus Germany (P5+1) in July 2015. This
“complex and highly technical” 100-page document that “emerged after years of diplomacy and final
marathon negotiation sessions by top diplomats” served as a roadmap for the future of Iran’s nuclear
program. 1 The negotiation success for P5+1 included processes that would stop Iran from acquiring
nuclear weapons and setting up a comprehensive inspections regime. 2 On the other hand, Iran would
have all sanctions related to its nuclear program lifted while being allowed to continue its enrichment
program. 3 Overall, the deal appeared to be victory in terms of global security and for the international
community as a whole.
Despite the global optimism though, critics on each side argue that every party in this
negotiation deal could have achieved more. Even today, this deal is subject to controversial partisan
debates and media coverage. Iranian hardliners continue to “oppose any relaxation in the regime’s
traditional hostility to the US” 4 US President Donald Trump, is repeatedly calling this agreement “the
worst deal I think I’ve ever seen negotiated” and has threatened to terminate the 2015 Iran nuclear
deal if Congress and the US allies fail to amend the agreement in a significant way. 5
Although media coverage of the negotiations and outcomes of the Iran deal have been
extensive, current scholarly literature is limited due to the recentness of these events. This is reasonable
given that it has only been two years since the deal was negotiated. Most of the literature consists of
scholarly articles evaluating the players and parties involved, their strategies, the negotiation process
itself, the impact of sanctions, and the limitation of the inspections and verification process.
Indira Lakshmana of Politico and Gareth Porter of The Nation both researched and provided
lesser-known, behind-the-scenes details of the negotiation process. Porter stated that the biggest
revelation was that “the most important and difficult issues were quickly resolved, in large part because
of moves by the Obama administration to reconcile the interests of the two sides… and slowed
progress in the final stage of the talks, mainly for domestic political reasons.” 6 Leo Wiseltier of The
Atlantic criticized Obama’s administration’s desire to reach the deal as resulting in a “deferral and a
delay.” 7 On the opposite side, Trita Parsi, head of a leading Iranian interest group in the US, praised
the Iran nuclear deal stating that it was already achieving its goals while calling for the new US
1 Eyder Peralta. “6 Things You Should Know About the Iran Nuclear Deal,” NPR America, July 14,2015
2 Ibid
3 Ibid
4 Yaroslav Trofimov. “After Nuclear Deal, Iran’s Hard-liners Assert Power,” The Wall Street Journal, Nov 5, 2015
5 Stephen Collinson. “Trump says Iran violating nuclear agreement threaten to pull out of deal,” CNN October 13 2017
6 Gareth Porter. “Behind The Scenes: How the US and Iran Reached Their Landmark Deal,” The Nation Sep 5, 2015
7 Leon Wieselter. “The Iran Deal and the Rut of History”
JPI Fall 2017, pg. 3