James Billington, the librarian of Congress, is in Iran this week on the first visit by a notable U.S. government official to that country in 18 years, administration officials said.
The unannounced visit was confirmed by the Library of Congress on Wednesday after it was disclosed by the Federation of American Scientists, an independent policy group in Washington. The library said that the purpose of Billington's trip was "purely cultural" and that he was traveling at the invitation of Muhammad Kazem Mousavi Bojnourdi, the director of the National Library of Iran.
While cultural visits have occurred before, administration officials said they believed Billington to be the highest-ranking American official to travel to Iran since 1986, when Robert McFarlane, then the national security adviser, led a delegation that made a secret visit in an attempt to cultivate a relationship with moderates in the Iranian government.
The State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said he would not "attach any special importance" to Billington's visit. |