Iranian nuclear negotiations: framework agreement presented on campus
© EPFL / Alain Herzog
It was on EPFL campus that the 5+1 group (U.S., Russia, China, France, UK and Germany) publicly announced the outcome of their negotiations. The event took place in the Rolex Learning Center, which was closed to the public during the duration of the talks.
The negotiations concerning Iran's nuclear capabilities may be drawing to a close. EPFL was chosen to host the press conference for the negotiating countries. Early in the evening of Thursday, April 2, the Iranian, U.S., French, German, Russian and Chinese delegations announced the establishment of a framework agreement. Hundreds of journalists descended upon the Rolex Learning Center, which had been closed to the public and put under additional security measures since the previous Friday.
Javad Zarif, Iranian foreign Minister (Photo Murielle Gerber)
The negotiations ended up taking longer than predicted -- it was the longest international negotiation involving the participation of the U.S. since the Paris accords at the end of WWI, noted an American historian working for Bloomberg News.
John Kerry, United States Secretary of State (Photo Murielle Gerber)
Although the length of the closure may have inconvenienced some users of the Rolex Learning Center, it also mobilized EPFL's security and event management staff day and night for the duration of the negotiations. The School's IT network also had to be bolstered to handle the increased media traffic, and security measures for the large number of local and international participants had to be coordinated.
The Rolex Learning Center will re-open to the public on Friday, April 3, on its regular operating schedule.
For those interested, here is what the throng of journalists looked like at the press conference:
Images to download
