EU defends Ashton's meeting with Iranian human rights activists

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By Justyna Pawlak and Louis Charbonneau BRUSSELS, March 18 (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Tuesday defended her talks with human rights activists during a recent visit to Iran, saying meeting dissidents is a central part of her official travels. Speaking on the sidelines of talks in Vienna between Iran and six world powers on Tehran's contested nuclear programme, coordinated by Ashton, her spokesman said meetings with civil society representatives abroad were "quite **rmal". A day before, Iran's official IRNA news agency said, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had cancelled a customary dinner with Ashton on the eve of the talks due to her "undiplomatic" behaviour, an apparent reference to the Tehran meeting.

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