FILE - In this Nov. 9, 1979, file photo, one of the hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran is displayed blindfolded and with his hands bound to the crowd outside the embassy. The U.S. and Iran cut off diplomatic ties in 1979 after the Islamic Revolution and the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, where 52 Americans were held hostage for more than a year. Since his inauguration in 2009, President Barack Obama has expressed a willingness to meet with the Iranians without conditions. The U.S. and Iran secretly engaged in high-level, face-to-face talks, at least three times over the past year, in a high stakes diplomatic gamble by the administration that paved the way for the historic deal aimed at slowing Iran's nuclear program. (AP Photo/File)