US renews easing of some Iran sanctions

The president of the American Iranian Council, Hooshang Amirahmadi, on Tuesday hailed the move as "another (US) gesture of goodwill to Iran" but a State Department official dismissed the decision as "matter of fact, not political."

The decision to renew the suspension, which had been due to expire last month, became public on Tuesday, as the United States faces an increasingly chaotic conflict in Iraq and is looking to neighboring countries, like Iran, to help calm the situation.

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An official Iranian delegation traveled to Iraq last week to try to defuse a standoff between radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and US troops in the holy Shia city of Najaf.

Iran and the United States have not had formal diplomatic relations since the Iranian revolution when radical students held 52 American hostages for 444 days from 1979-1981.