EU's Mogherini hosts in Brussels a meeting with Iranian FM Zarif as part of the nuclear negotiations with Iran
EU foreign policy chef Federica Mogherini hosts Monday in Brussels a meeting with the German, French and British Foreign Ministers, respectively, Frank Walter Steinmeier, Laurent Fabius and Philip Hammond, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, as part of the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran.
Ahead of this meeting, Mogherini will meet bilaterally with Zarif, her office said.
A written statement will be published at the end of meeting and Mogherini will address the meeting during the press conference following the meeting of the 28 EU Foreign Ministers.
"It is the first time talks at this level are being held in Brussels," a Commission spokeswoman said.
"They are part of the effort (with) the (end of March) deadline approaching; we are doing everything we can," the spokeswoman said.
Mogherini is also Vice-President of the EU Commission.
The EU has helped mediate talks between the five UN permanent Security Council members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany and Iran.
They began in late 2013 after Iran agreed to initial limits on its nuclear programme in return for an easing of some of the economic sanctions imposed by the West.
The negotiations have been extended twice but all sides say this will be the last round, having set a March 31 deadline for a political deal.
A final accord has to follow by the end of June.
In an open letter to Iranian leaders on March 9, a group of 47 Republican senators warned that any nuclear deal between U.S. President Barack Obama's administration and Iran may be short-lived unless it obtains congressional approval.
by Yossi Lempkowicz