News

BOSTON, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- A spokesman for Sen. John Kerry has denied a Wall Street Journal report that the Massachusetts Democrat is considering an emissary trip to Iran.

"John Kerry has no plan to travel to Iran,'' spokesman Frederick Jones told The Boston Globe.

Such a trip would make Kerry the first high-level emissary to visit Iran since the 1979 hostage crisis soured relations between the two countries, the Journal said Thursday.

As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry has been a high-profile representative of President Obama, who talks tough to Iran concerning the nuclear issue while leaving dialogue lines open.

The Journal reported the White House would not oppose a Kerry trip but no decision had been made and it was not clear whether the Iranian regime would welcome him.