DHAKA: Iranian president Hasan Rohani has asked authorities to study the possibility of resuming direct flights between Iran and the United States for the first time over the past 35 years.

A senior Iranian official announced on Monday, Tehran Times prints this report on Tuesday.

Akbar Torkan, the acting head of the High Council of Iranian Affairs Abroad, said Rohani issued the order to facilitate the visits of Iranian expatiates residing in the United States.

Tehran and Washington cut their diplomatic relations after Iranian students took hostage the US embassy’s staff in Tehran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

However, the two sides have shown interest in a thaw in relations. On Friday, US president Barack Obama and Iranian president Hasan Rohani spoke by telephone, the highest-level contact between the two countries in decades and the culmination of a dramatic shift in tone that began in August.

BDST: 1656 HRS, OCT 01, 2013
RoR/RK