US seeks to boost Iran ties via art exhibition

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit an Iranian art exhibition in Washington tomorrow, the State Department said, to demonstrate support for the Iranian people despite tensions with the country's leadership.

US-Iranian relations are tense, particularly over what Washington sees as Tehran's meddling in Iraq and its nuclear program, but the Bush administration has made clear it wants closer cultural and other ties with Iran's population.

The exhibition, which shows the works of 30 Iranian artists aged between 22 and 40, is entitled ''Wishes and Dreams: Iran's New Generation Emerges.'' Hosted by the Meridian International Center in Washington, it is being held in conjunction with Tehran University Art Gallery, the center said in a statement. The exhibit runs until July 29.

The State Department, which is helping sponsor the exhibition, said today some of the Iranian artists were expected to meet Rice.

''The important thing here is the symbolism of the American secretary of state reaching out and demonstrating for the Iranian people an appreciation for products of Iranian culture,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

US President George W Bush, while demanding Iran abandon sensitive nuclear work or face further isolation, has called for more people-to-people exchanges with Iran.

Last month, the State Department said Iranian wrestlers had been invited to train in the United States for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The United States cut off diplomatic ties with Iran in April 1980, five months after Iranian students occupied the American Embassy in Tehran and took US citizens hostage.

Fifty-two Americans were ultimately held for 444 days.

Washington, which believes Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb, has said it will only deal with Iran's government if it gives up uranium enrichment and returns to nuclear negotiations. Iran says its program is for power purposes.

However, the Bush administration has shown a shift from its total isolation policy and Rice exchanged pleasantries with Iran's foreign minister while they were in Egypt last week for conferences on Iraq.

Stuart Holliday, president of Meridian, a nonprofit group that promotes diplomatic and cultural exchanges said, ''This exhibit will help our citizens better understand the Iranian people and appreciate the many interests we share.'' The exhibition comes at a time when several US-Iranian citizens have been detained in Iran, including a Washington-based academic who heads the US Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' West Asia programme.

Asked whether he was concerned Iranian artists who met Rice could face problems when they returned home, McCormack said: ''I would certainly hope not.'' Reuters JK SBA VP0345