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Article: Iran opens the door
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- June 22, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Above the entrance to the Homa Hotel in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz are 6-inch-high burnished brass capital letters that spell out in English: "Down with U.S.A." Beneath it, American tourists lounge in the lobby sipping nonalcoholic beer and not-quite-the-real-thing cola. The former Sheraton doesn't take American Express; a U.S. trade embargo keeps American companies from doing business in the country. But it happily takes U.S. dollars.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is still remembered for taking dozens of American hostages in 1979 and holding them for 444 days. These days, however, Iran wants to be known for tourism rather than terrorism. The government ...