Deputy FM: EU’s Ashton to Visit Iran Saturday
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - An Iranian deputy foreign minister announced on Friday that European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is set to arrive in Tehran on Saturday night, adding that her trip is mainly to discuss bilateral relations between Iran and the European Union (EU).
Lady Ashton will make a trip to Tehran as the European Union foreign policy chief, with Tehran-EU bilateral ties as the main topic of the upcoming negotiations between she and the Iranian high-ranking officials, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for American and European Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi said on Friday.
He further noted that Ashton is expected to arrive in Tehran on Saturday night, adding that she will attend a luncheon with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday, March 9.
According to Takht Ravanchi, Ashton is also scheduled to hold separate meetings with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani during her stay in Tehran.
As regards the possibility of any talk of nuclear issues during Ashton’s upcoming meetings with the Iranian officials, Takht Ravanchi said, “Naturally, the nuclear discussion will be mooted in the talks as well.”
Ashton liaises with Iran on behalf of the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) in diplomatic efforts related to Tehran's peaceful nuclear case.
Earlier on February 20, Foreign Minister Zarif, also Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, had announced on his Facebook page that Ashton will be in Tehran before the next round of talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 (also known as P5+1 or E3+3).
He also wrote that the two sides will hold regular meetings until June.
Iran and the world powers wrapped up their latest round of nuclear talks in the Austrian capital on February 20.
In the meantime, the two sides are gearing up for a meeting of political directors on March 17, following the negotiations among technical experts which are now underway in Vienna.
The whole talks are aimed at resolving the West’s decade-long standoff over Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities.
On November 24, 2013, the two sides signed an interim six-month deal on Tehran’s nuclear program in the Swiss city of Geneva.
The breakthrough deal (the Joint Plan of Action), which has come into effect since January 20, stipulates that over the course of six months, Iran and the six countries will draw up a comprehensive nuclear deal which will lead to a lifting of the whole sanctions on Iran.