Could Iran's nuclear program be peaceful?
3:09
(CNN) -
The escalation of tensions between Iran and the world's major powers over nuclear issues seems to have no end.
On Wednesday Tehran agreed to return to the table of talks to discuss the resumption of talks within the framework of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015 but strongly weakened after the United States left in 2018.
ANALYSIS |
The moment of truth has come for the Iran nuclear deal
But what is the JCPOA and what are the tensions around it?
Here's a look at the nuclear deal signed between Iran and the P5 + 1 group.
What will be the future of Iran's nuclear program?
1:22
Key facts
Agreement:
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
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Signatories:
Iran and the P5 + 1 group (United States, Russia, China, France, United Kingdom and Germany, together with the European Union)
Signature:
July 2015
Implementation:
January 2016
Iran's main commitments:
-Reduction for 10 years in the number of its centrifuges (used to enrich uranium) from more than 19,000 to 6,104 of the first generation.
Iran's nuclear facilities in Natanz in April 2007. (Credit: Majid Saeedi / Getty Images)
-Reduction for 10 years of the stock of slightly enriched uranium (used in nuclear power plants) to 300 kilos, and of the highly enriched (used in weapons) to 0.
-Unrestricted regime of IAEA inspections and increase of inspectors to a range of between 130 and 150.
Main commitments of the P5 + 1 group
-Reciprocal and step-by-step lifting of all UN Security Council sanctions, as well as multilateral sanctions, including those imposed by the European Union, and national ones related to Iran's nuclear program.
Background
1957 - The
United States begins to cooperate on nuclear matters with Iran.
1967 -
Iran opens its first nuclear research reactor in Tehran, with American technology.
Shortly after signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
1975 -
Construction of the Busherh nuclear power plant begins, with German technology.
1979 -
The Islamic Revolution overthrows the Shah of Persi and ends the cooperation between the West and Iran on nuclear matters
Could the sabotage of the Iranian nuclear plant affect the negotiations with the US?
3:13
1984 -
Iran opens a nuclear research center with help from China.
1998 - The
United States warns that Iran may be developing nuclear weapons.
2000 -
US President Bill Clinton implements sanctions against Iran.
2003 -
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) detects traces of enriched uranium, used both in power plants and in nuclear weapons, during an inspection in Natanz.
Iran claims the material is contamination in imported equipment, but suspends its enrichment work.
2004 -
The IAEA finds traces of uranium enriched to a level only used in nuclear weapons.
Iran insists on contamination.
2005 -
Iran resumes uranium enrichment.
When did the US and Iran become enemies?
3:39
2006 -
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad orders to cease cooperation with the IAEA.
The UN Security Council imposes sanctions.
2007 -
The UN Security Council toughens its sanctions.
2009 -
The Institute for Science and International Security reports that Iranian scientists have reached "nuclear weapons manufacturing capacity".
The report concludes that Iran does not yet have a nuclear weapon, but it does have enough low-enriched uranium for a single nuclear weapon.
2010 -
IAEA reports that Iran may be secretly working to develop a warhead for a missile.
2011 -
The Busherh nuclear power plant, started in 1975, goes into operation. The IAEA publishes a report saying it has "serious concerns" and "credible" information that Iran may be developing nuclear weapons.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits Iran's 2008 enrichment plant (Credit: Getty Images)
2012 -
A six-member IAEA delegation arrives in Tehran for a three-day visit, shortly after the EU imposes new sanctions aimed at cutting funding for the nuclear program.
2013 -
During a speech at the UN General Assembly, Iran's new president Hassan Rouhani says: "Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in Iran's security and defense doctrine, and they contradict our religious convictions. and fundamental ethics ".
Six world powers and Iran reach an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program.
The agreement calls on Iran to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for lighter sanctions.
2014 -
Iran's nuclear spokesperson, Behrouz Kamalvandi, tells the state news agency IRNA that Iran has begun to suspend high levels of uranium enrichment.
The European Union announces that it has suspended certain sanctions against Iran for six months.
2015 -
An agreement is reached on Iran's nuclear program.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reduces the number of Iranian centrifuges by two-thirds.
It bans enrichment at key facilities and limits uranium research and development to the Natanz facility.
In return, sanctions against Iran will be lifted.
2016 -
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano affirms that Iran has completed all the necessary steps agreed to under the nuclear deal and that all participants can start implementing the JCPOA.
US Secretary of State John Kerry with Iran's Foreign Ministers Mohammad Javad Zarif in April 2016. (Credit: DON EMMERT / AFP via Getty Images)
2017 -
US President Donald Trump decertifies Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal, declaring that the Obama-era pact does not benefit US interests and presents a tough new policy toward the Islamic Republic. The measure does not go so far as to completely discard the agreement, but rather refers it to Congress, which has 60 days to determine the way forward. Congress lets the 60-day period pass without acting.
2018 -
Trump announces that the United States will withdraw from the JCPOA and impose "the highest level of economic sanction" against Iran.
In Tehran, Rouhani says Iran will take a few weeks to decide how to respond to the US decision, but Rouhani says he had directed the country's "atomic industry organization" to be prepared to "begin our industrial enrichment without limitations. . "
2019 -
US State and Treasury departments sanction 14 individuals and 17 entities from Iran.
Consequently, Iran announces its partial departure from the JCPOA, still without scrapping it, and resumes uranium enrichment and centrifuge modernization.
2020 -
The IAEA confirms that Iran's enriched uranium stocks exceed the limit set by the JCPOA.
According to Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA, Iran's top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, is killed in an apparent assassination.
2021 -
Iran announces that it is enriching uranium to levels necessary for a nuclear weapon.
Joe Biden's government announces that the US is willing to sit down and talk with Tehran and the other signatories of the Iranian nuclear agreement and get both of them to comply with the JCPOA again.
Iran says in response that it will allow IAEA inspectors to maintain nuclear surveillance equipment in the country, according to a joint statement by Iranian and IAEA officials.
Iran agrees to restart nuclear talks with major powers "before the end of November," chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said in a tweet.
Nuclear weapons