The U.S. Library of Congress has agreed to a cultural exchange with Iran's National Library and Archives.
The agreement follows a visit in early November to Tehran by chief U.S. librarian James Billington. Mr. Billington says the exchange will help fill a 25-year gap in the Library of Congress' collection of materials published in Farsi and other languages native to Iran.
Mr. Billington stresses that the agreement is purely cultural and will allow the two institutions to exchange information in the areas of library science and preservation.
Washington ended all relations with Tehran shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution and the seizing of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, where American diplomats were held hostage for more than a year.
