The story behind the Iranian delegation's refusal to take a joint photo with the American side and...

We have firm principles, and we have never—up to this very moment—wanted to be gathered in a single photo with the Americans. The mediating friends in this discussion insisted that this marks the beginning of the talks, but we explicitly declared that we would not appear in a joint shot, and that we came exclusively to negotiate without the camera lenses bringing us together.

In the middle of the talks, I learned that Trump spoke in a threatening tone against the President of the Republic and the negotiating delegation, and hinted at launching an attack on our territory. So I said to Vance: "We are here dialoguing, and based on the signed understanding, the first clause stipulates the non-use of threats and force; yet your president has issued threats today."

The American side was seeking to hold another session in the presence of the mediators, but we refused. The Qatari and Pakistani mediators came to us, and we told them that we would speak with them, but we would not speak with the American side. The outcome of these talks and negotiations, which lasted for 80 minutes, was the statement issued by both the Pakistani and Qatari sides.