www.iepn.org December 2018 Challenges in the Changing Middle East, The Iran Deal Revisited: Israeli and European Perspectives Herzliya, Israel, November 7-8, 2018 Edited by: Dr. Jan Busse, Dr. Ruth Hanau Santini, Dr. Roby Nathanson, Dr. Paul Pasch and Mr. Yanai Weiss The annual meeting of the Israeli-European Policy Network(IEPN) in Herzliya focused on the Annulation of the E3/EU+3 Iran Deal by the United States and its Impact on EU-Israel Relations. The May 8th withdrawal from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action(JCPOA), also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, by the United States, marked a dramatic shift in the manner in which relations between Iran and the rest of the world were approached. It also raised doubts about the reliability of the US as a party to international treaties. The deal, which was negotiated between Iran and the“E3/EU plus 3”- the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, China, and the European Union, aimed to reduce the nuclear capabilities of the Iranian regime in exchange for a reduction in economic sanctions on the country. Many observers considered this as a significant step in the right direction to ensure a future of peaceful co-existence between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Western World in general and Iran vis-à-vis its neighbors in the Middle East in particular. While the reaction of political decision-makers in the United States was much more divided, Europe appeared to be overwhelmingly in favor of the progress brought on by the JCPOA. One of the most vocal opponents to the agreement, both before the signing and after it, was the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who kept claiming that the deal was a‘bad deal’ with insufficient provisions for effective enforcement. As part of the campaign to endorse US-President Trump’s decision to depart from the agreement, signed by his predecessor, President Barack Obama, in April 2018, PM Netanyahu publicly exposed materials which he claimed proved that Iran did not abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions. Another reason for objecting the JCPOA, recently raised by Israel and the US, lies in its isolation from other regional security issues, something which was foreseen from the start of the negotiations, as they were not devised to include regional security issues at large, to be dealt with in other formats. Accordingly, while progress was made in terms of nuclear disarmament, Iran continued to pursue an expansionist and interventionist foreign policy which has, from the perspective of Israel and the US, significantly destabilized the Middle East. Almost three years after the signing of the JCPOA, the fragile agreement has been nullified. On May 8th, 2018, President Donald Trump announced he would reinstate sanctions against Iran, therefore unilaterally exiting the United States from the deal. The importance of Netanyahu’s vocal opposition to the agreement in Trump’s decision remains a subject of controversy. Many believe that Trump’s decision was made first and foremost as part of his attempts to erase from history former President Obama’s legacy. Reinstating the sanctions on Iran by the US posed a unique dilemma for the remaining parties to the agreement, with many unsure on the status of the accord, and if Iran would still adhere to its terms in the absence of the United States. This question was answered two weeks later, when Ayatollah Khamenei published a list of seven steps to be taken 111