BASIC FACTS

The Islamic Republic of Iran is the second-largest country in the Middle East region, bordered by Armenia and Azerbaijan to the northwest, Turkmenistan to the northeast, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and Turkey and Iraq to the west. Iran is a unitary Islamic republic that gained its independence in 1979 with the Islamic Revolution, when it officially became the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Capital: Tehran

Iran currently has four operational research reactors (TRR, ENTC LWSCR, ENTC HWZPR, ENTC MNSR) and one nuclear power plant (Bushehr-1).

Beginning in the 1950s and restarting in the 1980s, Iran has amassed capabilities over the full nuclear fuel cycle, in particular an extensive uranium enrichment program.

In 2005, the IAEA found Iran in non-compliance with its Comprehensive Safeguard Agreement, resulting in widespread international sanctions. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was agreed upon in 2015, lifting nuclear-related sanctions on Iran in exchange for a cessation of non-compliant activities.

In 2018, the Trump administration withdrew the United States from the JCPOA, leaving the future of Iran’s compliance in question.