Trust, not sanctions, was the key to the nuclear deal with Iran

On 24 November, the five members of the United Nations Security Council, plus Germany, reached a deal with Iran that would see limits placed on the country’s nuclear program, in exchange for a reduction in U.S. sanctions towards the country. Christian Emery takes a close look at the background to the historic deal, arguing that the deal was only made possible because of unprecedented back-channel diplomacy between US and Iranian diplomats and the West’s acceptance that Iran’s nuclear program was so sophisticated that it would never be fully dismantled. He also writes that the deal illustrates Washington’s lack of appetite for another Middle Eastern war, and a growing rift with its traditional allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia.