US relaxes diktat on travel to Iran

WASHINGTON, April 2: In another sign of a step-by-step thaw in US-Iranian relations, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright softened US warni...

WASHINGTON, April 2: In another sign of a step-by-step thaw in US-Iranian relations, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright softened US warning against Americans travelling to the Islamic republic, a senior US official told Reuters today. The new directive urges Americans to defer travel to Iran rather than warning them against travel to the country, the official said.

He called the wording change “significant” because it underscores a new US assessment that only some segments of Iran’s government and population — not all — are hostile to the United States.

“The secretary approved a new travel advisory with regard to Iran that reduces the standard … From a warning against all citizens traveling to Iran to (a recommendation) that citizens defer travel,” the officials said.

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The decision is certain to be read in Teheran as a carefully evolving diplomatic minute between the two countries, which have been bitter enemies without formal diplomatic relations since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

Theofficial said while Albright’s decision may have this effect, it was not made as a political gesture but to more precisely reflect changing Iranian attitudes towards the United States and Americans.

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