Visa restrictions to US might be eased for Iranians

President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger has been speaking in a television interview about relations with Iran in the light of recent comments by the new Iranian president.

He praised what he called the new tone of remarks by President Khatami who has called for wide-ranging unofficial contacts to improve relations.

And, the National Security Adviser said Washington would consider a possible easing of visa restrictions for some Iranians to promote this end.

But, he repeated President Clinton's call for direct talks with the Iranian government to tackle serious differences over Iran's alleged support for terrorism, its opposition to the Middle East peace process and development of weapons of mass destruction.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service