Zarif to meet Hague, Ashton in New York today

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is slated to meet his British counterpart William Hague and EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton in New York on Monday. Zarif will meet Hague and Ashton on the sidelines of the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York today. The Iranian foreign minister is in New York to take part in the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly, which will open on September 24. The Iranian foreign minister will meet Ashton at 9:00 a.m. local time. He will then have a meeting with the British foreign secretary in the afternoon. During a telephone conversation on August 17, Zarif and Ashton discussed different issues, including Iran’s peaceful nuclear program. Earlier this month, sources disclosed that the British foreign secretary has signaled his country's resolve to improve relations with Iran by offering talks with senior Iranian diplomats. “Hague has offered Zarif to attend bilateral talks on the sidelines of the upcoming annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York,” unofficial sources said at the time. Zarif met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York on Thursday. “I had satisfactory negotiations with Mr. Ban Ki-moon and we discussed international issues, as well as Iran,” the Iranian foreign minister said on Thursday in New York. Zarif is also slated to hold talks with foreign ministers from Greece, Holland, Australia and Japan. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also left Tehran for New York today to participate in the UN General Assembly meeting. On Saturday, an informed source revealed the structure of Iran’s new team of negotiators in the talks with the world powers. The source told FNA that Zarif and two of his deputies will take part in the talks with the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany). “Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi and Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi will be present in Iran's new nuclear (negotiation) team,” an informed source at the Iranian foreign ministry told FNA on the condition of anonymity. The same source told FNA on Sunday that Iran's former Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Eshaq Al-e-Habib and Foreign Ministry Director-General for the Economic and Specialized International Affairs Hamid Ba'eedinejad will also join Zarif and his two deputies in the talks with the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany). The source added that two representatives from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) will also be present in the new Iranian team of negotiators. "The new team of negotiators will have a spokesperson as well," he mentioned.