US President Donald Trump said the nuclear deal currently being negotiated with Iran would be “much better” than the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) from which he withdrew during his first term in 2018.
The original 2015 agreement took about two years of negotiations, reaching out and engaging hundreds of experts across technology and legal fields, including many U.S. experts. Accordingly, Iran agreed to limit uranium enrichment and undergo inspections in return for sanctions relief.
Recommended Stories
List of 3 itemsend of list
However, President Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement, calling it “the worst agreement ever.” Before the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in late February, the United States laid out new demands, including further limits on Tehran’s nuclear program, limits on its ballistic missile program and an end to support for regional armed groups, mainly in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.
President Trump’s remarks came as the two-week ceasefire between the United States, Israel and Iran is coming to an end in one day, and it is unclear whether a second round of talks will take place in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
So what is the JCPOA and how does it compare to Trump’s new demands?
What was the JCPOA?
On July 14, 2015, Iran reached an agreement with the European Union and six major powers (China, France, Russia, Britain, the United States, and Germany) to lift international economic sanctions and allow Iran to participate more in the global economy.
In return, Tehran promised to limit activities that could be used to produce nuclear weapons.
This included reducing enriched uranium stockpiles by approximately 98% to less than 300 kg (660 lb) and capping uranium enrichment at 3.67%. This is well below the weapons grade rating of 90%, but still high enough for civilian purposes such as power generation.
Before JCPOA, Iran operated approximately 20,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges. Under the contract, that number was reduced to a maximum of 6,104, with only the older generation machines confined to two facilities and subject to international monitoring.
A centrifuge is a machine that rotates to increase the concentration (enrichment) of the uranium-235 isotope in uranium, a key step toward making a potential bomb.
The deal also redesigned Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor to prevent plutonium production and introduced one of the most intrusive inspection regimes ever implemented by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the world’s nuclear watchdog.
In return, Iran received relief from international sanctions that had severely damaged its economy. Billions of dollars in frozen assets were released and restrictions on oil exports and banks were eased.
The agreement was halted when President Trump officially withdrew the United States from the nuclear agreement in 2018. The move was widely criticized by allies at home and abroad, even though the IAEA said Iran had complied with the agreement up to that point.
“The Iranian regime supports terrorism and exports violence, bloodshed and chaos throughout the Middle East. That is why we must end Iran’s continued aggression and nuclear ambitions. Iran has failed to uphold the spirit of the agreement,” he said.
He reimposed severe economic sanctions on Tehran as part of his “maximum pressure” tactics. It targeted Iran’s oil exports as well as its shipping sector, banking system and other key industries.
The goal was to get Iran back to the negotiating table and agree to a new deal. This also included discussion of Tehran’s missile capabilities, further curbs on enrichment, and further investigation into its nuclear program.
What happened to Iran’s nuclear program after JCPOA?
During the JCPOA, Iran’s nuclear program was severely limited and tightly monitored. The IAEA has repeatedly confirmed that Iran is complying with the terms of the agreement, including a year after President Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement.
However, starting in mid-2019, Iran began gradually violating the agreement’s limits, exceeding limits on its uranium reserves and enrichment levels.
In November 2024, Iran said it would put into operation ‘new and advanced’ centrifuges. The IAEA confirmed that Iran had notified its nuclear watchdog that it planned to install more than 6,000 new centrifuges to enrich uranium.
In December 2024, the IAEA said Iran was rapidly enriching uranium to 60% purity, bringing it closer to the 90% threshold needed for weapons-grade material. As recently as 2025, the IAEA estimated that Iran had 440 kg (970 lb) of 60% enriched uranium.
What are Trump’s latest demands on Iran’s nuclear program?
The United States and its ally Israel have been pressuring Iran to agree to zero uranium enrichment and have accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons, without providing evidence for their claims.
They also want Iran to remove an estimated 440 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium. Although this is below weapons grade, it is at this point that it becomes much faster to achieve the 90% enrichment required to produce atomic weapons.
Iran has insisted its enrichment efforts are for civilian purposes only. It is a signatory to the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
In March 2025, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified to Congress that the United States “continues to assess that Iran is not building nuclear weapons.”
On Sunday, Iranian President Massoud Fezeshkian said in a strong statement that Trump had no right to “strive” Iran’s nuclear rights.
What else is Trump demanding?
Restrictions on Ballistic Missiles
Before the US-Israeli war on Iran began, Tehran had always insisted that negotiations should focus solely on Iran’s nuclear program.
But American and Israeli demands extend beyond that. Just before the war began, the United States and Israel called for strict limits on Iran’s ballistic missile program.
The attack was triggered, at least in part, by the fact that several Iranian missiles penetrated Israel’s vaunted “Iron Dome” defense system during a 12-day war between the two countries last June, analysts said. Israel is said to have been alarmed even though there were only a few casualties.
President Trump has repeatedly warned, without evidence, of the dangers of Iran’s long-range missiles, claiming the country is producing “very large quantities” and could “overwhelm Iron Dome.”
Iran has said its right to maintain its missile capabilities is non-negotiable. The JCPOA did not place any restrictions on ballistic missile development.
But a UN resolution adopted when adopting the nuclear deal in July 2015 stipulated that Iran “may not conduct any activities related to ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons.”
End of proxy group support
The United States and Israel have also demanded that Iran stop supporting non-state allies across the Middle East, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and several groups in Iraq. Together, these groups are referred to as Iran’s “resistance axis.”
Last May, President Trump told the GCC meeting in Riyadh that Tehran must stop supporting terrorism, end bloody proxy wars and permanently and verifiably halt its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
In his State of the Union address in February 2019, three days before the start of the war with Iran, Trump accused Iran and its murderous proxies of spreading nothing but terrorism, death and hatred.
Iran has refused to engage in talks about limiting support for these armed groups.
Can Trump really negotiate a new agreement that is ‘much better’ than the JCPOA?
According to Andreas Craig, associate professor of security studies at King’s College London, Trump is more likely to strike a new deal very similar to the JCPOA, with “some kind of limits on enrichment and international oversight, along with sunset provisions.”
“Iran could access frozen assets and lift sanctions much faster than under the JCPOA, because Iran would not agree to a gradual lifting of sanctions over a long period of time,” Krieg noted.
But he warned that Tehran’s political landscape had hardened. “Iran is now a much more hardline and less pragmatic player who will act hard at every intersection. Trump cannot expect any favors from Tehran,” he said.
“The IRGC is now firmly in charge with a new, powerful and proven lever: the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which operates as an elite force parallel to the army and has enormous political and economic influence in Iran. It is constitutionally recognized as part of the Iranian military and answers directly to the supreme leader.
Krieg emphasized overall that even if a new compromise is eventually reached, the U.S.-Israel war with Iran “makes the world worse off than if Trump had stuck to the JCPOA.”
Moreover, since the abolition of the JCPOA, the United States and Israel have waged two wars with Iran, including this war. Last June’s 12-day war included attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities and left more than 1,000 dead.
Since the war began on February 28, attacks have continued on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, including the Natanz enrichment facility, the Isfahan nuclear complex, the Arak heavy water reactor and the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Nonetheless, King’s College’s Krieg said there was still room for a negotiated outcome if Tehran and Washington scale back their demands.
“Both sides can compromise on enrichment thresholds and a temporary moratorium on enrichment,” he said. “But Iran will not give up its sovereignty for enrichment, and the Trump administration will have to meet them in the middle.”
“The Iranians promise on paper not to develop nuclear weapons, but they will want to maintain R&D in this area.”
He added that economic incentives will be key. “Similarly, Iran will want immediate access to capital and liquidity, and this is where the Trump administration is already willing to compromise.”
