The status of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme

Abstract

Negotiations are under way in Vienna on a deal that would bring Iran and the United States back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. But Iran’s fast-advancing nuclear programme is undermining some of the non-proliferation benefits of the nuclear agreement. Even if Iran agrees to eliminate its current stockpile of enriched uranium, the knowledge Iranian scientists have acquired through this research cannot be erased. Iran, Israel and the US are each preparing plan-B strategies in case negotiations stall or collapse, and indeed, the complexity and risks associated with this scenario have served to underscore the high stakes involved in reviving the nuclear agreement in some form.