The term Iran Nuclear Deal most commonly refers to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a July 2015 agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, plus Germany), together with the European Union, that limited Iran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from nuclear-related sanctions. The agreement was finalized in Vienna on 14 July 2015 and was endorsed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231. The deal restricted uranium enrichment levels, centrifuge numbers, and stockpiles, and subjected Iran to expanded International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring. The United States withdrew from the agreement in 2018 under President Donald Trump, after which Iran progressively exceeded the deal's limits. Iran formally announced termination of the agreement on 18 October 2025, ten years after its adoption. Since February 2026, a separate U.S.-Iran negotiating process-following a months-long military conflict-has produced an interim memorandum of understanding addressing Iran's nuclear program; whether this constitutes a successor “Iran nuclear deal” or a distinct arrangement is itself a matter of ongoing characterization. See iran-nuclear-deal-term-naming-viewpoint for differing views on how the term should be applied to post-2025 developments. For background on the broader history, see iran-nuclear-deal-history.
As of late June 2026, no comprehensive replacement for the JCPOA is in force. On 17 June 2026, President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding laying out terms for ending a months-long war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, starting a 60-day negotiating window to resolve outstanding questions about Iran's nuclear program. The 14-point memorandum leaves a number of questions unanswered, and Iranian officials have disputed parts of the United States' published account of its terms.
Under the memorandum, Iran reaffirmed that it would not pursue nuclear weapons, with a mechanism still to be agreed for handling its enriched-uranium stockpile, while the United States committed to lifting sanctions in proportion to Iran's compliance. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has stated the interim agreement provides for IAEA inspection access to Iranian nuclear sites, though Iran has disputed that any new inspection arrangement was agreed. Technical talks on verification were reported to be underway in late June 2026. The episode has drawn comparisons to the original 2015 deal, including from former President Barack Obama, who expressed doubt that any Trump-negotiated agreement would differ substantially from the JCPOA.
Separately, the IAEA's basis for monitoring is degraded relative to the JCPOA era: the agency has reported being unable to satisfactorily monitor Iran's nuclear activities since February 2021, and Iran progressively increased enrichment and barred international inspectors after 2019, with stockpiles reaching levels assessed in 2023 as sufficient for a relatively short breakout to weapons-grade material, though estimates of actual weaponization timelines vary and are contested. The full sequence of military escalation, negotiation, and collapse between 2018 and 2026 is addressed at iran-nuclear-deal-history.