A Rare Successful Nonproliferation Policy: The JCPOA

In July 2015, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) addressed the international community’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear program. The United States and the other P5+1 countries (the permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany) agreed to lift the nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions they had imposed. This article discusses how the US administration successfully formulated a nonproliferation policy to convince Iran to engage in nuclear negotiations in the period before the 2015 agreement and how diplomacy and sanctions were used as integrated tools to achieve the goal of nonproliferation. The article also focuses on the administration’s agitating for more sanctions and isolation of Tehran from the international community while employing the two diplomatic methods. In implementing the strategy, it faced major domestic and foreign challenges. Nevertheless, the US nonproliferation strategy toward Iran achieved its primary purpose.