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Iran is coming in from the cold. The lifting of sanctions regarding that country’s clandestine nuclear weapons programme has implications for the Asia-Pacific as the Islamic Republic looks to revitalise its military.

- Beth Stevenson

On 16th January 2016, a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that facilitated the relief of economic and financial sanctions previously placed on the Islamic Republic of Iran came into force. The JCPOA was signed by the government of Iran and representatives from the governments of France, Germany, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union (EU). Some six months in the making, the day marked the point at which Tehran could again begin to trade with a number of key world powers, after restrictions were placed on the country in 2006 as a result of its clandestine nuclear weapons programme.

Verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations organisation which works to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to fight the proliferation of nuclear weapons technology, Iran had, at that point of the JCPOA’s signature, successfully implemented: “key nuclear-related measures described by the JCPOA,” according to a statement released by the US State Department. The achievement was backed by the US government and the EU, both of which agreed that Iran was no longer developing military-grade nuclear related technology: “On this historic day, the International Atomic Energy Agency has verified that Iran has implemented its key nuclear-related measures described in the JCPOA, and the secretary of state has confirmed the IAEA’s verification,” the US government said in a statement confirming the implementation of the JCPOA in January 2016: “As a result of Iran verifiably meeting its nuclear commitments, the United States is today lifting nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, as described in the JCPOA.”