I am just going to say a few words and then we start our closed door session. Welcome to the closing plenary of these very long negotiations. What we have in front of us all today is the result of very hard work of all of us – all of you – and I would like to thank all sitting around this table, and those sitting behind you, our teams that have been working for weeks, days, nights, months and years in some cases, to bring us here.

I think we all know that the decision we are going to take today is not only on Iran's nuclear programme but it is much, much more than this. It is a decision that can open the way to a new chapter in international relations and show that diplomacy, coordination, cooperation can overcome decades of tensions and confrontations.

I think this is a sign of hope for the entire world and we all know that this is very much needed in these times.

Thank you for all the commitment and the work that each of us around this table has personally put into these negotiations.

We now proceed to our final plenary for the adoption of the agreement and then we will move to the media.

By EU External Action