ABSTRACT
By 2 April 2015, limits on Iran’s nuclear programme had largely been agreed, when negotiators meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, announced that they had reached a framework for a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). As the JCPOA negotiations were drawing to a conclusion, Iranian leaders began to draw red lines regarding inspections. JCPOA opponents typically compare the final agreement to an idealised concept of a better deal – one that would permanently restrain Iran’s nuclear programme, with unlimited verification measures, limit its missile programme as well, and, for good measure, compel better behaviour in other policy fields. Iran’s verification commitments were limited to ordinary International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, and Iran refused to accept the standard IAEA provisions requiring declaration of new facilities until they were close to being operational. The strongest criticism of the JCPOA is levelled at its limited duration: the so-called sunset provision.
