BRUSSELS (IRNA) -- The EU is being urged to initiate a regional security dialogue as a way of addressing some of the many security issues in the Middle East, the online publication 'EUobserver' reported Thursday.

"The EU needs to stop having to react to a negative agenda", Steven Everts of the Center for European Reform told the website.

"Iran does have some legitimate security concerns," he said.

EUobserver said nuclear cooperation between Russia and Iran will be discussed during the EU-Russia summit in Rome.

A European Commission spokesperson told the EUobserver that the matter would be raised, but as long as the deal did not break any international rules on the use of nuclear material, and that spent nuclear material was returned to Russia, the cooperation would give no cause for concern.

Tehran’s announcement last month to sign the additional protocol to the NPT was seen as "a major, albeit qualified vindication, of the EU’s policy of constructive engagement with Iran," it said.