The iranian nuclear agreement: A scientifically reliable, transactional and verifiable joint comprehensive plan of action

In the international question of non-proliferation, Iran occupies a peculiar position among the Parties (i.e., the Ratifiers of the Non-Proliferation Treaty). Even before the first revelations of the existence of a suspected clandestine nuclear program (in 2002), and the Report of IAEA in 2003, the international relations between Iran and Western countries were quite intense and contradictory. After many years of difficult negotiations and slow construction of trust, the reach of a Nuclear Agreement in July 2015 (called JCPOA, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), between Iran and the P5+1, or the E3/EU+3 (i.e., China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK, the USA, with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) represents a relevant step in the fight against the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). This Chapter aims, firstly, at summarizing the historical background of the relations between Iran, the EU and the USA; then, describing the main features of the Agreement; and finally evaluating the relevance of the agreement, in the belief that the lessons learned from this question could be useful for future cases.