The present study examined the relationships between the use of cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies on the one hand and EFL reading achievement on the other hand. Data were collected from 30 randomly selected EFL learners studying English Language and Literature at Kashan University, Iran. The participants included six male (20%) and 24 female (80%) learners, who were further classified into highly successful (n=6), moderately successful (n=19), and unsuccessful (n=5). The collected data included reading comprehension achievement scores and responses to a 35-item five-point likert-scale cognitive and Meta cognitive questionnaire. Transcripts of retrospective interviews with 4 highly successful and 4 unsuccessful test-takers were also used to further clarify the quantitative analyses. Results of the analyses indicated that the correlation between reading achievement and Meta cognitive and it was significant at the 0.05 level. However, the correlation between cognitive strategies and reading achievement was 0.128 and insignificant, showing only a slight trend and the correlation between meta-cognitive strategies and cognitive strategies was .630 and it is significant at the 0.01 level. MANOVA also showed that students at higher levels of reading ability use meta-cognitive strategies more often that less successful readers. The findings of the study suggest that the use of meta-cognitive strategies can account for variation in EFL reading achievement and needs to be promoted by EFL teachers. Gender did not have a determining role in the use of either cognitive or meta-cognitive strategies in this study.