U.S. NGO TO OPEN OFFICE IN IRAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
03.10.2008 15:23 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The United States has granted permission for a
U.S. non-governmental organization to open an office in Iran, the
U.S. State Department said on Thursday, but said Washington’s Tehran
policy remained unchanged.
In a rare move, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset
Control (OFAC) granted a license to the Princeton, New Jersey-based
American-Iranian Council (AIC) to operate in Iran.
A U.S. official said the decision to allow the NGO to go to Iran was
"carefully reviewed" within the U.S. government.
"We want to encourage this kind of cultural exchange and mutual
understanding" between the U.S. and Iranian people "while trying
to isolate the regime," said the official, speaking on condition of
anonymity, Reuters reports.
The United States is at loggerheads with Tehran on a range of issues,
including Iran’s nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed
at building an atomic bomb. Tehran argues it is for peaceful power
purposes.
The two nations have been antagonists since the Islamic Revolution in
Iran in 1979 and the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Switzerland
handles U.S. interests in Iran as Washington has no diplomatic ties
with Tehran.