Decoding Iran's Nuclear Threat: A Clear and Concise Guide

It provides a concise description of the agreement and the accompanying UN Security Council Resolution 2231. It also includes a balanced assessment of the agreement's strengths and weaknesses with respect to its central objective to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Under its terms, Iran agreed to dismantle much of its nuclear program and open its facilities to more extensive international inspections in exchange for billions of dollars’ worth of sanctions. The public debate in Iran over the value of a nuclear deterrent intensified in 2024, when senior Iranian officials suggested that Iran may rethink Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s fatwa prohibiting nuclear weapons if security conditions warranted it. An April 2015 report from researchers at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, “ Decoding the Iran Nuclear Deal: Key questions, Points of Divergence, Pros and Cons, Pending Legislation and Essential Facts,” provides useful insights across a wide range of issues, from the technical to the strategic. Iran ’ s nuclear program sits at the intersection of domestic legitimacy, regional power dynamics, and global non-proliferation norms. While some view nuclear armament as a strategic necessity in an increasingly volatile world, others argue that it contradicts Iran’s historical, ethical, and cultural principles. A ceasefire would work best if key parties—particularly the United States, Israel, European partners, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)—agree beforehand on the priorities for nuclear threat mitigation and accompanying steps to reduce the dangers from Iran’s program.