Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 16 January 2016: The implementation day of Iran’s nuclear deal

On 16 January, the UN nuclear watchdog confirmed that Iran had fulfilled its initial commitments under the nuclear deal which was signed on 14 July 2015. For Iran, this is the day a large part of the reduction in economic sanctions would really kick in. The first stage was for Iran to dismantle significant parts of its nuclear programme and ship around 10,000kg of enriched uranium to Russia – 98% of its stockpile. Completion early this month far exceeded expectations and appears to have been heavily motivated by the belief that early sanction relief would give President Rouhani’s supporters a boost in the February 26 elections for the Majlis, the Iranian parliament. A concern by the international community is that the suspension of sanctions will reduce Iranian incentives for strict compliance in the future while supporters believe Iran will not risk to reverse the benefits it has just began to realize.