Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani 14 June 2005 -- The favorite to win Iran's presidential election Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani said today that the time could be right to open a "new chapter" in his country's relations with the United States.
Rafsanjani said in an interview with CNN that he plans a policy of relaxation and detente toward the United States.
Rafsanjani said the United States needed to make gestures of its own such as freeing hundreds of millions of dollars of Iranian assets frozen after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.
Rafsanjani warned that if the United States continues its policies of "obstructions and hostility" toward Iran then current conditions between the two countries would persist.
(CNN/Agencies)
For more news and analysis on Iran's presidential election, visit RFE/RL's Iran Votes 2005 page.
Rafsanjani said the United States needed to make gestures of its own such as freeing hundreds of millions of dollars of Iranian assets frozen after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.
Rafsanjani warned that if the United States continues its policies of "obstructions and hostility" toward Iran then current conditions between the two countries would persist.
(CNN/Agencies)
For more news and analysis on Iran's presidential election, visit RFE/RL's Iran Votes 2005 page.
