Brussels, 28/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday 26 September, the European External Action Service (EEAS) announced that the first high level dialogue between the EU and Iran will take place before the end of 2015.
“As follow-up to the Iran deal, (I) look forward to the first EU-Iran high level dialogue on bilateral, regional and international issues before (the) end of (the) year”, tweeted EEAS Deputy Secretary General Helga Schmid. This dialogue will moreover be led by Schmid and by Iran's deputy minister for foreign and European affairs, Majid Takht Ravanchi, according to an EEAS press release published at the end of a meeting between High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Iran's Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday 25 September. This first dialogue meeting will be followed by a ministerial meeting later in 2016.
During their meeting, Mogherini and Zarif reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear agreement “which will open the way to revitalised bilateral relations in different fields and cooperation on regional and international issues”, according to the EEAS.
Elsewhere, Mogherini and Zarif met during the evening of Monday 28 September (New York time) together with the British, French, German, American, Russian and Chinese ministers, as part of an E3+3 meeting.
Moving forward on Syria. During their meeting on 25 September, Mohgerini and Zarif also discussed the need for an end to the war in Syria. “They expressed their readiness to cooperate within UN led efforts and exchanged views on how to contribute to that end”, the EEAS states, adding that Mogherini and Zarif discussed how to contribute to this. The EU is working with the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, in order to set up an international contact group on Syria with countries that have an influence on the Syrian conflict. Russia's deputy minister for foreign affairs, Mikhail Bogdanov, announced on 28 September that the “main actors” in the Syrian conflict, including the USA, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and Egypt, would meet in October.
Although Iran supports Bashar al-Assad's regime, Mogherini's spokesperson Catherine Ray said on 28 September that “given the way in which Bashar al-Assad has been involved in the civil war” it is “impossible that he be part of the future governance of the country”. She was nevertheless unable to respond as to whether he could be part of a transition government. According to British media, the UK's Prime Minister David Cameron could go back on his opposition to Bashar al-Assad playing some role in a transition government. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant).