Geneva talks: How the diplomatic version of an 'all-nighter' secured the Iranian nuclear deal The Geneva nuclear deal does not solve everything - on the contrary, is only a "first step" designed to buy time for a comprehensive settlement. Experts will wrangle over whether it lives up to Mr Kerry's billing as a "dramatic way" of impeding Iran's supposed quest for a nuclear arsenal. EU High Representative Catherine Ashton poses next to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the Iranian delegation in Geneva But it deserves the term "historic" simply because Mr Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, were both doing something unprecedented. They were talking face-to-face and bargaining hard with the aim of actually reaching a deal. At consecutive press conferences lasting from 4.30 until 5.30am, the two ministers duly sold the agreement as best they could, stressing all the points that favoured their respective countries. In other words, Mr Kerry and Mr Zarif behaved like normal foreign ministers. They were tough and unsentimental - and each tried to outwit the other - but they ended up with a deal that both could sign. That is how most countries handle their relation, but not America and Iran. Until Sunday, these old foes had spent over three decades exchanging little but threats; entire years would go by without any formal contact between them. So the very normality of Mr Kerry and Mr Zarif haggling into the night made this episode extraordinary. For the first time in the political careers of both men, America and Iran behaved like countries with normal diplomatic relations. This rapprochement did not come out of the blue. President Barack Obama authorised a small circle of officials to meet Iranian diplomats almost from the moment that Hassan Rouhani won Iran's presidential election in June. Sunday's agreement emerged from five days of bargaining - but the contours of the deal were the product of months of covert contacts. The offer was simple: America would refrain from imposing more sanctions - and ease the burden of current measures - if Iran halted the essential elements of its nuclear programme. The details were for Mr Kerry and Mr Zarif to settle: the strategy had already been decided by their respective masters. But there were still plenty of obstacles. The talks began on Wednesday when Mr Zarif landed in Geneva to meet the "P5 plus 1" contact group, consisting of the Security Council's five permanent members - America, Britain, France, Russia and China - along with Germany. At first, all these countries were represented by officials, not ministers. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton visit the media seating area of Kerry's aircraft On Thursday and Friday, little progress was made. The talks focused the contested questions of Iran's "right" to enrich uranium - and the future of its planned plutonium reactor at Arak. At the centre of everything was Baroness Ashton, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs, who chairs the "P5 plus 1." She would negotiate directly with Mr Zarif, before briefing the six countries. Other could take breaks between meetings, but Lady Ashton was always at work, shuttling between the Iranians and the countries she represented. On Friday - supposedly the meeting's last day - she faced a difficult choice. With the Arak and enrichment issues still unresolved, Lady Ashton had to decide between declaring failure, or extending the talks into the weekend - or calling in Mr Kerry and the other "P5 plus 1" foreign ministers to break the deadlock. She chose the latter option - and Mr Kerry took off in Washington on Friday night, arriving in Geneva at 8am on Saturday, closely followed by William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, and the other four ministers. Then followed almost 18 hours of solid bargaining, with Lady Ashton moving constantly from negotiating with the Iranians to briefing the ministers. Most importantly, she chaired at least two trilateral meetings with Mr Kerry and Mr Zarif. As dawn approached, those sessions produced a breakthrough. The parties gathered in the Palais des Nations for a brief ceremony where Mr Kerry and his colleagues exchanged bear hugs. Lady Ashton received kisses from every minister except Mr Zarif, restrained by Islamic tradition, who chose instead to raise his clasped hands in a gesture of thanks. Lady Ashton and all the ministers were palpably relieved and exhausted. It was a very human end to a very human meeting. And that is what made it so extraordinary.