Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's president is asking aviation authorities to study the possibility of resuming direct flights between Iran and the United States for the first time in more than three decades.
Hassan Rouhani's request reflects Iranian efforts to possibly build on the groundbreaking exchanges with Washington that included a telephone chat last week between the new Iranian president and President Barack Obama.
Iran's immediate goal is to resume talks over its nuclear program to seek easing of Western sanctions. But Tehran also appears willing to explore expanded contacts.
The semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted Akbar Torkan, a senior government official, as saying on Monday that Rouhani wants to study the options of direct flights.
More than 1 million Iranian-Americans live in California and elsewhere.
Direct flights halted after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
