2015 Nuclear Deal Negotiator Appointed Iran's Vice President

(Patria) - New Iranian reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian has appointed the negotiator of the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, Mohammad Javad Zarif, as his vice president for strategic affairs, state media reported on Thursday, AFP reports.

"You are tasked with monitoring major national and international events, as well as how far we succeed in achieving the goals of the constitution," Pezeshkian said in an appointment letter carried by the official IRNA news agency.

Foreign minister between 2013 and 2021 in the government of moderate president Hassan Rouhani, Zarif became a well-known figure on the international stage during the long negotiations for the 2015 deal.

The deal was torpedoed three years later when President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement and reimposed sanctions, demanding allies respect them.

But it made Zarif a figure for a more open, outward-looking Iran, which Pezeshkian promised during his campaign, in which the former top diplomat often joined him.