FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2013 file photo, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a address and discussion hosted by the Asia Society and the Council on Foreign Relations at the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan, in New York. Always the subject of intense scrutiny, Iran will now be under the microscope as Washington looks for signals that its new president is both serious and sufficiently powerful to pursue detente with Washington and craft an exit from painful sanctions over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
September 30, 2013 - 2:34 AM
TEHRAN, Iran - 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.
News from © The Associated Press, 2013