JCPOA

Crude oil is the most traded commodity in the world and its market has great influences on the global economy and macroeconomic activities. The present study seeks to analyze Iran's policy for oil production and export within the framework of an intra-OPEC bargaining game.  This analysis helps to review Iran’s oil policy and to propose an appropriate strategy in the new circumstances. The analysis of strategic relations shows that OPEC members can be divided into two groups of saver and spender countries. This categorization is due to economic, demographic, and petroleum differences among OPEC countries. OPEC members are different in terms of discount rates, impatience, and the urgent need for oil revenues too. The authors of this study have tried to model the relationship between oil quotas/production and demographic, economic, and oil variables based on the Intra-OPEC bargaining game. The model estimated for the period 2001-2019. The results indicated a strong and significant relationship between the ratio of oil production to oil reserves and demographic, economic, and oil variables. Bargaining between the two groups can largely determine the behaviors of OPEC and its members. The model estimation suggested that the oil market faces a tendency towards faster production and export in response to the shift in world oil market outlook. The results suggest that Iran's oil production capacity, the market share of Iran and recovery rates should be upgraded. Finally, the current role of Iran in OPEC does not fit into its economic needs and should be reviewed based on the above results. The study indicated that the inherent heterogeneity in OPEC still helps Iran plan to achieve its historic quota and position in OPEC. JEL Classification: C07, D74, L13, L16.

This paper intends to examine the way in which major American media have framed Iran's Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the JCPOA). Following the nuclear agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the 5+1 powers in Vienna, the event was significantly depicted on the two major mainstream media outlets of the United States, namely CNN and Fox News. The study examines these media through framing as its theoretical approach. Framing, which is a prominent theory in communication and media studies, is concerned with the presentation of an issue in media. Using framing analysis, the study is based on data collected thorough an analysis of the JCPOA relevant transcripts broadcasted on CNN and Fox News during four strategic events within a threeyear period, starting from July 14, 2015. The collected data was analyzed by ATLAS.TI software to classify and place the selected frames into respective tables. By analyzing approximately 1200 deconstructed themes, the findings reveal the main coding-news of CNN and Fox News as Iranophobia, Iran's containment, Advocates vs. Opponents, US approach towards JCPOA, Iran's nuclear program, Iran’s economy, Role of Israel as well as the JCPOA achievements. The present paper concludes that under the impact of politicized frames in the US outlets, Iran’s nuclear program has been distorted, framed and consequently represented to the audience.

The purpose of this paper is investigating the effect of JCPOA on the network behavior analysis of Tehran Stock Exchange indexes using the minimum spanning tree (MST) and hierarchical clustering. By simplifying a complex system, network analysis allows for the extraction of important and essential information from that system. In this paper, using network analysis the simultaneous behavior of 38 industry indexes in Tehran Stock Exchange in manufacturing, service and invest-ment sectors during 2012-2017 was investigated. These analysis included identi-fying the main indexes in the direction of moving other indexes using the MST, providing a classification using hierarchical clustering for the behavioral similarity of the indexes as well as examining the degree of integration (behavioral similarity) of market indexes over time. The results showed that investment, automobile, industry and medicine indexes in the research period had a major role in guiding other indexes and indexes can be classified into six groups in terms of behavioral similarity. The market has also been moving toward integration of indexes since early 2015 and beginning the executive steps of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). This reflects the investors' hope for the promotion of all indexes.

The present study was conducted to investigate how Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from Iran’s nuclear deal on May 8, 2018 has been framed in political cartoons published in French and Iranian media. In this paper, a thematic analysis of published cartoons available on Google images from May 8, 2018 to June 8, 2018 was conducted in both French and Farsi. Five categories of news frames identified by Semetko and Valkenburg (2002) were applied on selected cartoons to observe how these frames are used on political cartoons in French and Iranian news outlets. Findings of the study showed that withdrawal of Trump from Iran’s nuclear deal has been framed mostly as a threat for France and has been considered in a bilateral perspective between USA and France. For the Iranian press the withdrawal is mostly considered as a result of Trump’s mental instability and P5+1 inaction.

After three years of enduring the immense failures and fallouts of the US “maximum pressure” sanctions imposed on Iran in the aftermath of the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the JCPOA (Iran nuclear deal) in 2018, the Biden administration has signaled an important shift by promising to conduct a foreign policy that leads with diplomacy. The EU-brokered negotiations that have already taken place during the first half of 2021, although encountering some tactical obstacles and lack of momentum, nonetheless offer grounds for cautious optimism that the JCPOA can be rescued and that the return of all signatories to full compliance with the terms and conditions of the deal can be secured.The critical question that this article addresses is what are the key imperatives required for a durable outcome of the upcoming negotiations. This research is based on a critique of the failures of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” sanctions from the Ethical or Just War theoretical framework and the Utilitarian and Realist perspectives. The research methodologies are critical observation and empirical analysis. The article’s survey of the historical trajectory of US sanctions against Iran also supports this critique by clearly demonstrating that during periods of US over-reliance on sanctions to the exclusion of other foreign policy tools, including those of diplomacy, political engagement, and economic incentivization, successive administrations failed to advance their foreign policy goals and objectives vis-à-vis Iran. The article argues that rescuing Iran's nuclear deal and restoring its advantages for all signatories will require the implementation of essential US policy changes. It will also be necessary for the EU foreign policy establishment to direct its efforts to reinforce Biden’s inclination to return to the JCPOA in good faith with demonstrable full commitment to the terms of the original deal.

The goal of countries in concluding treaties in international relations is to increase and ensure national security. Each country is trying to maximize its safety in the global environment. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, abbreviated as "JCPOA," resulted from 12 years of negotiations between Iran and the West, which formalized, after being signed by the P5 + 1 countries and ratified by UN Security Council Resolution 2231. Political and legal experts have considered the effects of JCPOA and related resolutions, including Resolution 2231, on national interests from various dimensions. The present study aimed to analyze the West's attempt to reduce Iran's conventional deterrence power from JCPOA entrance. The main question is ‘In addition to restricting Iran's nuclear industry, what other goals did the United States pursue in JCPOA?’ The article hypothesizes that one of the goals of the US-led West has been to weaken Iran's conventional deterrence capability through JCPOA. This hypothesis is tested based on a deterrence strategy. Therefore, while proposing a deterrence strategy, the present study analyses JCPOA and its consequences (Resolution 2231) and its impact on the conventional deterrence capacity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The result of this article is the confirmation of the hypothesis above

The efforts of the international community to free the Middle East from weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) date back five decades ago. This process was initiated with Iran’s proposal in 1974 and has not yet achieved its goals after almost five decades. The main question in this article is how to achieve a WMD Free Zone in the form of a regional arms control and disarmament regime in the Middle East. The answer is formed in the form of the hypothesis that despite the presence of Israel as the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the region and uncertainties about Iran's nuclear program, reaching a WMD-free zone will not be far from reach. Using the theoretical framework of international regimes, in this article the possible actions needed to create a WMD Free Zone will be discussed.

Iran nuclear program had been the main theme for portraying Iran as an imminent threat to international peace and stability. Several United Nations Security Council Resolutions, adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations from 2006 to 2010 identified the Iranian nuclear issue as a proliferation concern and thus a possible threat to international peace and security. With the conclusion of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 marked the start of de-securitization of Iran nuclear program. During Trump presidency, the United States pursued the maximum pressure campaign consisting of economic, political, and military pressure against Iran, coupled with securitizing speech acts to convince the audience of the necessity of a more comprehensive deal with Iran. Using Barry Buzan’s Securitization Theory and Process Tracing as research method, this study tries to investigate the outcome of Trump Administration campaign for re-securitization of Iran nuclear program, specifically in international political arena. It finds that while Trump policy succeeded in imposing heavy economic cost on Iran, it failed to re-securitize the Iranian nuclear program.