US Withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal: The Causes and the Implications

Abstract

Iran nuclear programme, which was launched in the 1950s with the US cooperation, lost the western support after the Islamic revolution of 1979 and became increasingly controversial from early 2000s onwards. Consequently, Iran endured multi-layered UN and Western sanctions for a number of years. Eventually, the crippling sanctions and international diplomatic efforts pushed Iran to conclude a historic nuclear deal with P5+1 powers in July 2015. Much to the dismay of the international community, President Trump abandoned the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 due mainly to political reasons rather than Iran’s non-compliance. The US unilateral act leaves the deal and non-proliferation regime as well as regional peace and the US world leadership in peril. This paper spotlights the historical background of the Iran nuclear deal and, drawing on the theory of offensive realism, explains the causes behind the US withdrawal from the deal and its implications for nuclear non-proliferation regime, the US itself, and regional peace.