Iran's Nuclear Program and U.N. Sanctions Reimposition

Abstract

U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015), which the council adopted on July 20, 2015, implements the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and contains other provisions concerning Iran's nuclear program, Tehran's development of missiles, and arms transfers to and from Iran. In August 2020, the United States has invoked the resolution's "snapback" mechanism, which requires the Security Council to reimpose U.N. sanctions lifted pursuant to Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA. The JCPOA, finalized in July 2015 by Iran and China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (collectively known as the P5+1), requires Iran to implement constraints on its uranium enrichment and heavy water nuclear reactor programs, as well as allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to monitor Tehran's compliance with the agreement. Prior to the JCPOA, these programs caused international concern because they could both have produced fissile material for use in nuclear weapons. Pursuant to the JCPOA, Tehran received relief from sanctions imposed by the European Union, United Nations, and United States. On the agreement's January 16, 2016, Implementation Day, the Security Council terminated sanctions imposed by three previous resolutions on Iran; the council adopted the first of these resolutions (1996) in 2006 and the last (1929) in 2010. The sole operative Security Council resolution concerning Iran's nuclear program, Resolution 2231, also stipulates that the council, which has been seized of the "Iranian nuclear issue" since 2006, is to end its consideration of the matter in 2025. The resolution's snapback mechanism will then cease to be operational. In May 2018, President Donald Trump issued a memorandum stating that the United States would no longer participate in the JCPOA and would reimpose sanctions that had been suspended pursuant to the agreement.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2021
Accession Number
AD1150072

Entities

People

  • Paul K. Kerr

Organizations

  • Congressional Research Service

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Arms Control Treaties
  • Congress
  • European Union
  • Explosive Devices
  • Fissile Materials
  • Governments
  • Heavy Water
  • International Relations
  • Materials
  • Nuclear Energy
  • Nuclear Materials
  • Nuclear Reactors
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Security
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security