EU’s Ashton Meets Iranian President in Tehran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, held a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran today.
Ashton arrived in Tehran on Saturday to be the first EU high-ranking official to visit Iran in 6 years, following her predecessor’s trip to Iran in 2008.
Earlier this morning, the visiting European official met Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
They also attended a joint news conference following the meeting.
And now Ashton has attended a meeting with President Rouhani.
According to the Iranian president’s Twitter account, the meeting is now underway in Tehran.
It also quoted President Rouhani as saying in the meeting that “Iran-EU historic ties are deep-rooted; (Iran is) ready to further expand coop with (the) EU.”
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.
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.