Minister: Normal U.S.-Iran ties tenable

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Iran's foreign minister told reporters in Switzerland normalized relations between the United States and Iran could be tenable in the future.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos he could "imagine a day to normalize ties with (the) U.S. but there are many obstacles," the Islamic Republic News Agency reported Sunday.

Mottaki stressed the resumption of formal diplomatic relations with the United States depended on "a number of factors," however.

U.S. foreign policy toward Iran factored into the assessment, Mottaki said, and not the presidential election in the United States.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice extended an invitation to Mottaki to hold talks on Iran's nuclear program, which the foreign minister declined.