US President Barack Obama writes to Iran

Washington: The US President, Barack Obama, has written a secret letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to seek his support for the military campaign against the Islamic State, drawing sharp reaction from Republican lawmkers who blame Tehran for the rise of the dreaded militant group.

 

Obama wrote the letter to Khamenei last month, The Wall Street Journal said. “Mr Obama stressed to Mr Khamenei that any cooperation on IS was largely contingent on Iran reaching a comprehensive agreement with global powers on the future of Tehran’s nuclear programme by a November 24 diplomatic deadline,” said the daily, which based its report on anonymous sources.

 

This is the fourth letter that Obama has written to the top Iranian leader since 2009.

 

“The correspondence underscores that Mr Obama views Iran as important whether in a potentially constructive or negative roleto his emerging military and diplomatic campaign to push IS from the territories it has gained over the past six months,” The Wall Street Journal said.

 

Two top American Senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, expressed their outrage over the letter, saying jointly: “It is outrageous that, while the cries of moderate Syrian forces for greater US assistance fall on deaf ears in the White House, President Obama is apparently urging Khamenei to join the fight against IS.”

 

The White House neither confirmed nor denied the existence of the letter arguing that it would not comment on the private communications between two world leaders.

 

“I’m not in a position to discuss private correspondence between the President and any world leader. I can tell you that the policy that the President and his administration have articulated about Iran remains unchanged,” the White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest.

 

“The US is engaged in conversations with Iran in the context of the P5-plus-1 talks to resolve the international community’s concerns about Irans nuclear program,” he said. Earnest said the US will not cooperate militarily with Iran in that effort.