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The Tab Volume 2
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Matti Friedman


Tablet columnist and the author, most recently, of Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action regulating the development of Iran’s nuclear program remains the most consequential and high-stakes piece of foreign policy in the geopolitics of the Middle East, and Tablet has covered the treaty from before its inception under Obama, through the Trump years, and now into Iran Deal 2.0 under the Biden/Blinken Administration.
What Is the Iran Nuclear Deal?
The Iran nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is a landmark accord reached between Iran and several world powers, including the United States, in July 2015. Under its terms, Iran agreed to dismantle much of its nuclear program and open its facilities to more extensive international inspections in exchange for billions of dollars’ worth of sanctions relief.
Proponents of the deal said that it would help prevent a revival of Iran’s nuclear weapons program and thereby reduce the prospects for conflict between Iran and its regional rivals, including Israel and Saudi Arabia. However, the deal has been in jeopardy since President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from it in 2018. In retaliation for the U.S. departure and for deadly attacks on prominent Iranians in 2020, including one by the United States, Iran has resumed some of its nuclear activities.
In 2021, President Joe Biden said the United States would return to the deal if Iran came back into compliance. Renewed diplomacy initially seemed promising, but after stop-and-go talks, it remains unclear if the parties can come to an agreement.
—Council on Foreign Relations
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