BRUSSELS, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Wednesday with the EU's top foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, to review efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear row.
Kerry met Ashton on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting for NATO members in Brussels. The secretary of state thanked Ashton for her leadership role in last month's nuclear negotiations with Iran.
"Her efforts in Geneva with respect to the initial Iran first step have been key, and now we're going to talk about how we proceed to try to move towards the comprehensive agreement," he said in a statement Wednesday.
Ashton helped steer nuclear negotiations during multilateral talks in Geneva, Switzerland. The agreement requires Iran to roll back certain aspects of its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions pressure.
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency this year said there may be a military dimension to certain aspects of Iran's nuclear enrichment program.
Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Tuesday he summoned Kerry to testify Dec. 10 about the Geneva agreement. Royce said the deal left room for Iran to continue working on a program he says is geared toward producing a nuclear weapon.
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