The European Union’s foreign policy chief announced Monday that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif are expected to meet this week, the Wall Street Journal reported.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the meeting, expected to take place on Thursday, will put Kerry and Zarif face-to-face along with their counterparts from five other nations that are negotiating the containment of Iran’s nuclear program.
The meeting would mark the highest-level in-person talks to take place between the U.S. and Iran since the Iranian revolution in 1979.
Iranian President Hasan Rouhani wrote in a Washington Post op-ed last week that he would like to pursue “constructive engagement” with the United States and the rest of the world aimed at ending “unhealthy rivalries” among the international community. He also emphasized in the opinion column that Iran’s nuclear program is “peaceful” and central to the nation’s identity.
