New York: Iran’s Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that the 10-year nuclear deal reached in 2015 with world powers has officially expired. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed in Vienna between Iran and the P5+1 (China, France, Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States) along with the European Union (EU).
The accord restricted Iran’s civilian nuclear programme and mandated unprecedented inspections in return for sanctions relief. The “termination day” was set for October 18, 2025, exactly 10 years after the UN Security Council endorsed the deal through Resolution 2231.
Unanimously adopted on July 20, 2015, the Resolution 2231 formally endorsed the JCPOA, which lifted previous UN sanctions and cancelled six earlier Security Council resolutions targeting Iran’s nuclear activities.
The resolution removed Iran from Chapter 41 of the UN Charter, ending provisions that allowed the Security Council to impose economic sanctions, block transportation links or sever diplomatic relations without military force. Iran faced restrictions on conventional weapons for five years and on ballistic missile activities for eight years. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was tasked with verifying compliance and reporting to the UN Council regularly.
The 10-year period concluded with the IAEA never reporting any movement by Iran toward building a nuclear weapon. Iran now considers its nuclear file and all related mechanisms terminated. “All of the provisions (of the deal), including the restrictions on the Iranian nuclear programme and the related mechanisms are considered terminated,” the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
Diplomacy remains Tehran’s stated preference.
The JCPOA had weakened after the United States withdrew unilaterally in May 2018, reimposing sanctions. Iran continued compliance for a year while waiting for European parties to ensure economic benefits. When the Europeans failed to deliver, Iran gradually rolled back commitments under Articles 26 and 36, which allow a signatory to suspend or reduce its obligations if others fail to uphold theirs.
Tensions escalated as Iran increased uranium enrichment levels after exercising strategic patience. Enrichment reached 60 percent, below weapons-grade 90 percent, for medical isotopes and research reactor fuel. Officials emphasised that these steps could be reversed if sanctions were lifted and the deal restored.
The JCPOA included a snapback mechanism allowing any party to restore previous UN sanctions if Iran was in “significant” breach. On August 28, 2025, the European trio, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, activated snapback, reinstating sanctions on arms transfers, missile activities and financial dealings. Tehran dismissed the move as politically motivated, lacking “moral and legal authority” and warned it would end European engagement in its nuclear file.
The snapback followed an IAEA report in June accusing Iran of “general lack of cooperation” and claiming sufficient enriched uranium for nine nuclear bombs. The IAEA Board of Governors declared Iran in breach of non-proliferation commitments on June 12. Iran condemned the report as politically motivated, designed to pressure concessions during indirect negotiations with the United States.
The following day, Israel struck Iran’s nuclear facilities and assassinated top nuclear scientists and military commanders. The United States joined with bombings of three key sites. The 12-day war killed over 1,000 civilians in Iran. Israeli-occupied towns became ghost towns as Iranian ballistic missiles penetrated multilayered air defenses.
Diplomacy collapsed as Omani-brokered talks failed. Iran remained open to negotiations only if Washington guaranteed protection from military action.
After the conflict, Iran’s Parliament suspended cooperation with the IAEA, accusing the watchdog of providing Israel pretexts for attack. The snapback sanctions further complicated diplomacy. Foreign Minister Araghchi stated last week that Tehran sees “no reason to negotiate” with Europeans after their snapback action. In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the expiration of the JCPOA and Resolution 2231 renders the sanctions “null and void”.
Iran has maintained a nuclear energy programme since the 1950s. Western assistance in the 1970s slowed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, followed by decades of sanctions and sabotage. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, emphasising peaceful energy purposes. The IAEA and US intelligence acknowledge no evidence of a military dimension.
Allegations from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over three decades, including supplying fabricated intelligence to the United Nations, remain unproven. Israel is not a Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory. Iranian leaders insist the country will not abandon its peaceful nuclear programme, a right recognised under the NPT and defended at great national cost.
The expiration of the JCPOA and Resolution 2231 marks the formal end of the decade-long nuclear deal era. Iran now asserts full autonomy over its nuclear programme, sanctions lifted or terminated, while maintaining readiness for diplomacy under guaranteed conditions.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
