President Trump may announce in the coming days that he will “decertify” Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement reached with six world powers, including the United States.
Here are some questions and answers about the nuclear agreement and the possible consequences should Mr. Trump take that step.
Which countries negotiated the nuclear agreement with Iran and what did it accomplish?
The permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany, known as the P5-plus-1 group, negotiated the agreement with Iran. Disarmament advocates consider it a major achievement of the Obama administration, averting a possible military conflict with Iran and a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
The agreement severely limited Iran’s ability to enrich uranium fuel and other activities necessary to make nuclear weapons. While Iran has repeatedly promised that it would never seek nuclear weapons, the agreement provided verifiable assurances for the first time.
In return, a wide array of economic penalties that had been imposed on Iran were rescinded or suspended, including many American sanctions and a European oil embargo that had weakened the Iranian economy.
