UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Allies fear a rushed U.S.-Iran agremeent could leave behind technical deadlocks
Q1. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear programme was formally endorsed by which one of the following UN Security Council resolutions?
- A. Resolution 1929
- B. Resolution 2231
- C. Resolution 1737
- D. Resolution 2140
Q2. Apart from Iran and the European Union, how many sovereign states were parties to the 2015 JCPOA (the P5+1 grouping)?
- A. Five
- B. Six
- C. Seven
- D. Eight
Q3. The re-imposition of previously terminated UN sanctions under the 'snapback' mechanism of Resolution 2231 is operationalised through which one of the following bodies?
- A. The IAEA Board of Governors
- B. The UN General Assembly
- C. The UN Security Council
- D. The UN Sanctions Committee of the Secretariat
Q4. Under the snapback procedure of Resolution 2231, within how many days of a participant's notification must the Security Council adopt a resolution to continue sanctions relief, failing which the pre-existing sanctions are automatically re-applied?
- A. 15 days
- B. 30 days
- C. 45 days
- D. 60 days
Q5. The chief administrative officer who heads the Secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Agency holds which one of the following titles?
- A. Secretary-General
- B. Director-General
- C. President
- D. Chairperson of the Board of Governors
Q6. With reference to the IAEA's safeguards architecture, consider the following statements:
1. A comprehensive safeguards agreement is concluded by a State under the NPT to enable the IAEA to verify that nuclear material is not diverted to weapons.
2. The Additional Protocol significantly enhances the IAEA's ability to verify the peaceful use of all nuclear material beyond what a comprehensive safeguards agreement provides.
3. The IAEA is headquartered in Geneva.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- A comprehensive safeguards agreement is concluded by a State under the NPT to enable the IAEA to verify that nuclear material is not diverted to weapons.
- The Additional Protocol significantly enhances the IAEA's ability to verify the peaceful use of all nuclear material beyond what a comprehensive safeguards agreement provides.
- The IAEA is headquartered in Geneva.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q7. In the June 2026 Islamabad Memorandum, the '60-day timeline' referred to which one of the following?
- A. The period fixed for reaching a further agreement on Iran's unresolved nuclear programme
- B. The duration of the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports
- C. The interval before the next round of IAEA inspections at Natanz
- D. The validity of Iran's reaffirmation not to close the Strait of Hormuz
Q8. The June 2026 Islamabad Memorandum was signed by the U.S. President together with which one of the following as the Iranian head of state?
- A. Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf
- B. President Masoud Pezeshkian
- C. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi
- D. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
Q9. The main shipping lanes of the Strait of Hormuz lie mostly within the territorial waters of which one of the following countries?
- A. Iran
- B. Oman
- C. United Arab Emirates
- D. Qatar
Q10. The E3 (France, Germany and the United Kingdom) trace their stake in the Iran nuclear file to negotiations that began in which year, when the IAEA first took up the Iran nuclear issue?
- A. 2002
- B. 2003
- C. 2006
- D. 2015
Q11. The 2026 US-Israel military campaign against Iran began with strikes launched on which one of the following dates?
- A. 28 February 2026
- B. 7–8 April 2026
- C. 11–12 April 2026
- D. 17 June 2026