Kerry meets EU foreign policy chief for talks

US Secretary of State John Kerry held talks here on Sunday with European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on issues concerning Iran, Syria and others, reports said. On the Iranian issue, they discussed Iran's meeting scheduled for Oct.15-16 in Geneva with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, or P5+1, on Iran's controversial nuclear program. Iran will put forward a three-stage new proposal in the talks with the world powers, Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Saturday. The proposed package, if agreed, will automatically commit the other parties to "the recognition of the uranium enrichment right on Iran's soil" as the objective of the negotiations, said ISNA. The package reportedly includes Iran's halt to produce 20 percent enriched uranium, a key demand of the U.S. and other global powers. Kerry and Ashton also discussed preparations for an international conference on Syria. The U.S. State Department called the Kerry-Ashton talks "very constructive."