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Witness History

The Iran nuclear deal

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.41.6K Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On 14 July 2015, Iran agreed to temporarily limit its nuclear programme. The deal was signed in Vienna, the capital of Austria.

Officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it was agreed between Iran and a group of world powers known as the P5+1 – the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany, together with the EU.

The accord came after years of tension over Iran’s alleged efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran insisted that its nuclear programme was entirely peaceful, but much of the international community did not believe that. Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme and facilitate international inspections, in return for economic sanctions relief.

Baroness Catherine Ashton, who was the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, tells Ben Henderson how the plan was achieved.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.

(Photo: Baroness Catherine Ashton and Javad Mohammad Zarif, Iranian Foreign Minister, during nuclear negotiations in 2014. Credit: Dieter Nagl/AFP via Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0

Get closer to the action with live commentary from the world's greatest sporting events on BBC Sounds.

0:06.1

It is all over!

0:08.4

Bulls are edge, caught behind.

0:10.6

Including cricket Super League, women's Euros 2025, Wimbledon, Formula One and much more.

0:17.6

It's all right to the lights and foot to the floor.

0:20.0

Oh, what a's done it!

0:21.3

Drop shots!

0:22.9

Winner!

0:23.6

On five sports extra, sports extra two and sports extra three.

0:27.6

Listen, only on BBC Sounds.

0:33.7

Hello and welcome to witness history from the BBC World Service with me, Ben Henderson.

0:39.1

We're the daily podcast that takes you back to the biggest moments in history, told by the people

0:43.4

who were there. Please do subscribe so you never miss an episode. Today, we're going back 10 years

0:49.5

to the 14th of July 2015 when Iran signed a historic nuclear deal.

0:55.2

Under the agreement, Iran has accepted strict constraints on its nuclear activities

0:59.2

in return for the eventual lifting of some of the most crippling international sanctions.

1:04.3

President Obama said the deal would make the world safer and more secure.

1:09.4

The deal was agreed by Iran and six countries, the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia,

1:15.9

China and the EU. Nuclear negotiations had been on and off with limited success for many years.

1:22.1

But in late 2009, Baroness Cathy Ashton was tasked with injecting some urgency.

1:27.9

I'd become the first EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy.

1:31.3

It's an enormous job title.

...

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