Weapons, money and ships: How is this Iran deal different from others?

Weapons, Money, and Ships: How This Iran Deal Differs from Others

The Original Nuclear Accord

Weapons money and ships - The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a 2015 agreement involving the UK, France, the EU, China, and Russia, aimed to curtail Iran's nuclear ambitions. It limited Iran's enriched uranium stockpile to 300kg and restricted enrichment levels to 3.67% for 15 years. This threshold, while insufficient for nuclear weapons, was adequate for reactor fuel. The deal also granted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to Iran's nuclear facilities to monitor compliance.

"The JCPOA was a comprehensive, final agreement... that had been frozen or seized abroad," noted a US Treasury official in 2015.

Pre-War Context

Before the conflict erupted on 28 February 2026, Iran had amassed about 440kg of uranium enriched to 60%, according to US officials. This concentration could be rapidly upgraded to weapons-grade levels. However, the current Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Trump does not explicitly address the removal of this stockpile, instead framing it as a topic for future negotiations.

The New Framework

President Donald Trump finalized a deal with Iran to end the ongoing conflict, which began with US and Israeli strikes on Tehran. The 14-point MoU, however, has drawn criticism for its broad language and lack of specificity. Unlike the JCPOA, it does not detail Iran's nuclear constraints, merely stating the country "reaffirms its commitment to not acquiring nuclear weapons." The text also omits mention of Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, a key focus in Trump's recent rhetoric.

"Not only does the deal fail to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions... but it also fails to address the regime's development of ballistic missiles," Trump remarked in 2018 when abandoning the JCPOA.

While the JCPOA was a detailed, two-year negotiation, the MoU acts as a 60-day preliminary framework. Trump emphasized the destruction of Iran's missile capacity during the war, calling it "unfair" for Iran to lack such capabilities given regional allies' arsenals. Yet, the MoU text does not include provisions targeting ballistic missiles, leaving the issue unresolved in the current agreement.