Very curious. This Voice of America article indicates that Abbas Abdi has turned into one of the pro-Western reformers in Iran; he is a prominent advocate of establishing talks with the U.S., presumably aimed at restoring diplomatics relations:
Early this year, some reformist lawmakers began calling publicly for talks with Washington. But Iran's hardline judiciary later declared calls for talks with Washington to be illegal.There are, of course, many people whose political views changed from 1980 to now.
Iran's judiciary has banned more than 80 pro-reform publications since beginning a crackdown on dissent 30 months ago.
Two leading reformists said in August they feared the country's ruling hardliners were preparing to declare a state of emergency to counter reformist moves to improve U.S. ties.
Karim Argandepour, editor of a banned daily newspaper, and political ally Abbas Abdi said extremists in the conservative camp were seeking to create what they called an exceptional situation.