Zarif will join a meeting of the foreign ministers from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States at a meeting on Iran's nuclear program, Ashton told reporters.
Ashton said she had a "good and constructive" meeting at the United Nations with Zarif.
"Foreign Minister Zarif will join the E3-plus-three later this week, which I will be chairing, in order to have a short discussion," Ashton told reporters.
"We have agreed that he and I will meet with our teams in Geneva in October," she added.
Ashton also expressed hope and expected more breakthroughs to be gained within upcoming meeting.
"I was struck by the energy and determination on the part of the minister," Ashton said.
Zarif has earlier hoped for a negotiated settlement of the Western dispute over the country’s nuclear energy program while safeguarding the Islamic Republic’s rights.
“We hope we’ll be able to resolve Iran’s nuclear issue through cooperation and dialog in such a way that the Iranian people’s rights are safeguarded and the concerns of certain countries are allayed,” said Zarif at a luncheon banquet the UN headquarters in New York.
NJF/NJF