NEW YORK—Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif will meet this week with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and counterparts from the five other major powers who are negotiating to contain Iran's nuclear policy, the European Union's foreign policy chief said Monday.
The meeting, expected Thursday, will be the highest-level face-to-face contact between the U.S. and Iran since the 1979 Iranian revolution. The nuclear talks will be the first since the election of Iranian President Hasan Rouhani in June.
President Barack Obama was due in New York on Monday afternoon for the annual gathering of world leaders for the United Nations General Assembly meeting. The White House has said no meeting is planned between Messrs. Obama and Rouhani, but administration officials have said they are open to a brief meeting or exchange between the two this week.
Monday's diplomatic advance came as international efforts to engage Iran's new government emerge as the main focus of this year's U.N. General Assembly.
Mr. Rouhani has pledged to pursue high-level talks with the U.S. and other world powers to resolve the nuclear dispute. Western leaders also hope to get Tehran's assistance in ending Syria's civil war and promoting an independent Palestinian state.
The EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said after meeting Mr. Zarif that she expects the coming meeting will allow for a "short discussion" of the nuclear issue.
She also announced a new round of nuclear talks between Iran and the six major powers in Geneva in October.
On the eve of his trip to New York, Mr. Rouhani offered his most expansive vision to date of a possible deal, saying an agreement could open doors for greater cooperation on regional flash points such as the Syrian civil war.
Baroness Ashton chairs the group of six countries that negotiate with Iran on its nuclear program. The West fears Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes.
The last formal talks were in Kazakhstan in April, when Western officials said Iran failed to respond credibly to their softened offer, in which they proposed that Iran scale back its enrichment activities in exchange for the easing of some of the tight economic sanctions now in place.
Baroness Ashton said Monday she was struck by the "energy and determination" of Mr. Zarif "to try and move forward in our talks."
But she said it was "a first meeting in order to establish how can we work together."
The EU foreign policy chief said she had always made clear she would take any opportunity to forge a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue and she "hoped this would be one."
Mr. Zarif's meeting with Baroness Ashton is the first of a series with senior Western officials. He met Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans and was to see U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague later Monday.
—Jay Solomon contributed to this article. Write to Laurence Norman at [email protected]
The meeting, expected Thursday, will be the highest-level face-to-face contact between the U.S. and Iran since the 1979 Iranian revolution. The nuclear talks will be the first since the election of Iranian President Hasan Rouhani in June.
President Barack Obama was due in New York on Monday afternoon for the annual gathering of world leaders for the United Nations General Assembly meeting. The White House has said no meeting is planned between Messrs. Obama and Rouhani, but administration officials have said they are open to a brief meeting or exchange between the two this week.
Monday's diplomatic advance came as international efforts to engage Iran's new government emerge as the main focus of this year's U.N. General Assembly.
Mr. Rouhani has pledged to pursue high-level talks with the U.S. and other world powers to resolve the nuclear dispute. Western leaders also hope to get Tehran's assistance in ending Syria's civil war and promoting an independent Palestinian state.
The EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said after meeting Mr. Zarif that she expects the coming meeting will allow for a "short discussion" of the nuclear issue.
She also announced a new round of nuclear talks between Iran and the six major powers in Geneva in October.
On the eve of his trip to New York, Mr. Rouhani offered his most expansive vision to date of a possible deal, saying an agreement could open doors for greater cooperation on regional flash points such as the Syrian civil war.
Baroness Ashton chairs the group of six countries that negotiate with Iran on its nuclear program. The West fears Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes.
The last formal talks were in Kazakhstan in April, when Western officials said Iran failed to respond credibly to their softened offer, in which they proposed that Iran scale back its enrichment activities in exchange for the easing of some of the tight economic sanctions now in place.
Baroness Ashton said Monday she was struck by the "energy and determination" of Mr. Zarif "to try and move forward in our talks."
But she said it was "a first meeting in order to establish how can we work together."
The EU foreign policy chief said she had always made clear she would take any opportunity to forge a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue and she "hoped this would be one."
Mr. Zarif's meeting with Baroness Ashton is the first of a series with senior Western officials. He met Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans and was to see U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague later Monday.
—Jay Solomon contributed to this article. Write to Laurence Norman at [email protected]