The US State Department said Friday it was creating a new Department of Iranian affairs and a dozen new diplomatic posts for Farsi-speakers.
The expansion comes in the wake of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's recent budget request for 75 million dollars to fund Iran-US student exchanges and produce Farsi radio and television programs for broadcast to Iran.
With the two countries currently at loggerheads over Iran's nuclear ambitions, the United States only currently has two diplomats specialised in Iran.