Pakistan, Oct. 21 -- Iran's declaration that all restrictions under the 2015 nuclear accord, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), are "terminated" marks more than a diplomatic breakdown for it signals the end of an era of external constraints on Tehran's nuclear programme.

Its foreign ministry stated that the framework established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 has now sunset and that Iran no longer sees itself as bound by the deal's provisions. For a decade, the JCPOA stood as a rare agreement anchored in mutual verification, limits and sanctions relief.

But Washington's unilateral exit in 2018 undermined its credibility; European backers hesitated; and Tehran steadily diminished cooperation, culminating ...