Tehran ponders reopening of U.S. embassy
By Sara Rajabova
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is pondering on the possibility of restoring diplomatic ties between Iran and the United States.
In an interview with the Swiss French-speaking RTS TV channel, Rouhani said there is no enmity and no friendship that lasts forever. "We should transform enmity into friendship," he said.
Rouhani gave the interview in Davos on January 22 where he arrived to attend the World Economic Forum.
He said that, relations with Washington were difficult in the past, but this problem can be overcome if joint efforts are made.
Currently, U.S. interests in Iran are represented by the Swiss embassy.
Diplomatic relations between Iran and the U.S. ceased in 1980 after the U.S. embassy in Tehran was captured by radical Iranian students angered that the deposed Shah has been allowed to enter the United States.
Moderate Rouhani's election as the president of Iran raised hopes for normalization of relation between Iran and the world, as well as for settlement of the long-lasted dispute over country's nuclear program.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Rouhani had a telephone conversation in more than 30 years during the latter's visit to the United States to attend the UN General Assembly session. This phone conversation was the first direct communication between the U.S. and Iranian officials since Iran's Islamic Revolution of 1979 and was deemed as a thaw in U.S.-Iran relations.