Kerry planning Iran visit

NEW YORK - John Kerry, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations committee, is planning to visit Iran to become the first high-level U.S. figure to make a public visit to Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper, citing White House officials, said they wont oppose the senators visit to Iran, with which the United States does not have diplomatic relations.
The Iran visit plan is being floated as a U.S.-imposed deadline nears to broach international sanctions against Iran.
This sounds like the kind of travel a chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee would-and should-undertake, a White House official was quoted as saying.
Its unclear whether Iran would welcome the visit, and it would be controversial within both countries, the Journal said. The Iranian government has rebuffed other recent White House efforts to establish a direct dialogue.
The Obama administration hasnt decided whether to make Sen. Kerry its official representative if he goes, but as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Kerry can visit if the White House and Tehran both approve.
Many opponents of Tehrans regime oppose such a visit, fearing it would lend legitimacy to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a time when his government is under continuing pressure from protests and opposition figures.