US Congressmen request visas to Iran

A group of US congressmen intends to visit Iran to observe the parliamentary elections on February 26, the Hill newspaper reports.

According to the publication, Republicans Mike Pompeo, Lee Zeldin and Frank LoBiondo sent their applications to the Iranian Interests Section in Washington, and wrote to the Islamic republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, seeking their assistance

They may become first to travel to the country since the 1979 Islamic revolution, although a former congressman Jim Slattery visited Iran in December 2014.

"We look forward to seeing Iranian democracy in action" they wrote in the letter.

The US lawmakers sought to 'inspect' nuclear sites and requested a briefing by the Revolutionary Guards over the January detention of two US Navy boats.