TEHRAN — An event titled “Reviewing the Nuclear Agreement” was held Aug. 9 at the headquarters of Ettela'at, one of Iran's oldest newspapers. Hosted by Iranian Diplomacy, an influential diplomatic website, the session brought together Iran's senior nuclear negotiators, who were responsible for reaching an agreement on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the P5+1 (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and United States plus Germany).

Invitations to reporters, political analysts, former officials, and negotiators and foreign envoys had been issued a week in advance. Although the meeting had been scheduled to start at 11 a.m., eager guests began entering the fourth-floor amphitheater at 9:30. The think-tank-style session was the first public gathering of the negotiators since the July 14 announcement of the JCPOA. After a brief delay, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and Deputy Foreign Ministers Abbas Araghchi and Majid Takht-Ravanchi took the stage.

Sadegh Kharazi, head of Iranian Diplomacy, chaired the session. Kharazi, who previously served as Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations and France, had strongly backed the negotiating team for the past two years. He opened the event by expressing his support for the JCPOA, stating that it has ended Iran’s isolation and driven an “unprecedented” wedge between Washington and Tel Aviv.

Zarif, seated next to Kharazi, spoke first and began by describing the JCPOA as balanced in terms of addressing the concerns of all the parties. “It is not like we were able to force the other side to agree with all our demands, but they could not force us to agree to all of their demands either. The text is also very nuanced in its implementation schedule,” he stated.