Former Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, waves to the media, as he leaves a conference of Iranian parties to show support for Palestinians and Lebanon, in Tehran, August 1, 2006

U.S. officials say the Bush administration has agreed to issue a visa to former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to visit Washington next month.

A group advocating understanding between different cultures has invited Mr. Khatami to give an address at Washington National Cathedral.

The State Department says it has received the visa request from Mr. Khatami, and it is being processed.  He would be the most senior Iranian to visit Washington since Iran's 1979 revolution and the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, which led the U.S. to cut diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980.

Mr. Khatami is a reformist cleric who was Iran's president from 1997 to 2005.

The visit would come despite the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP.