Regionalising the JCPOA: the Iranian Nuclear Deal as a Guideline for a WMD Free Zone in the Middle East?

Abstract

The establish­ment of a Weapons of Mass Destruction-Free Zone (WMDFZ) in the Middle East remains an urgent item on the inter­national agenda. But which approach has the best prospects of success? The author presents the positions of the most relev­ant states in the Middle East in terms of weapons of mass dest­ruction (WMD) and then analyses the Joint Comprehen­sive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which has been the only succes­sful attempt to contain WMD in the region to date. He con­cludes that while the JCPOA is not a blueprint for the establish­ment of a WMDFZ, it provides many ideas and steps for confidence-building measures that can pave the way for future nego­tiations.