[BLOOMBERG] Hassan Rohani's appointment of Mohammad Javad Zarif as his foreign minister suggests the new Iranian president would like to break the 34-year impasse between the Islamic Theocratic Republicand the U.S.
Zarif, 53, a fluent English speaker who earned his doctorate at the University of Denver, is a former ambassador to the United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
who has been involved in several secret negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over the past 20 years.
"He'll be an excellent face for Iran, but his ability to steer policy depends on what latitude the Supreme Leader gives him," said Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, who has met Zarif on several occasions. "Iran's condition is an excellent reason for diplomacy, he said.
Rohani, 64, who took his oath of office yesterday, said the U.S. and the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
should drop sanctions imposed to stop the country's nuclear enrichment program. Over the past year, the sanctions have crippled Iran's economy, sending inflation above 40 percent while the national currency the rial has lost more than 50 percent of its value against the dollar.