Saturday, March 8, 2014

Ashton in Tehran

Landmark Bridge-Building Visit

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who acts as the lead nuclear negotiator for P5+1, arrived in Tehran on Saturday evening in what is described as a landmark visit, with “softly-softly bridge-building approach” to forging a new relationship between Iran and the West. This is her first visit to Iran.

The reformist-leaning media in Iran her visit as another sign of the success of the country’s new foreign policy under President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif. The coverage by the hardline media was much less enthusiastic.

She begins her visit with a meeting with civil society leaders on Saturday evening. She will meet with President Rouhani and other senior leaders on Sunday, and on Monday will visit Isfahan, famed for its stunningly beautiful Islamic architecture.

Photo credit: EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, second from left, at the reception area of Tehran's Mehrabad Airport; 8 March 2014 (Mehr News Agency)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hopefully all these would lead to a successful nuclear agreement between Islamic Republic of Iran and the west. The world really need it.

Anonymous said...

Infact this visit is a garantuee from the EU - we won't let the Iranian people down so long as you meet us halfway.

reader said...

Where is Zarif !?

Nader Uskowi said...

Was in Japan; I believe he was scheduled to return to Tehran couple of hours after Ashton. Their meeting is on Sunday.

Anonymous said...

Honestly Zarif as been doing a yeoman job and I give him kudos for that. But we shouldn't be deceived, because even though his approach might be different - which means a lot in international relations - his believe in the Islamic Republic is no less different from that of a person like ahmadinejad. He is not in office to bargain away the Islamic Republic but to make it stronger as its international face.