Ayatollah Ali Khamenei received a secret letter from an unlikely person last month: President Obama.
In the midst of airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Obama reportedly sent Iran’s Supreme Leader a letter in the middle of October, expressing the importance of cooperation in fighting the militants, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Obama also hinted that cooperation on fighting the Islamic State would directly affect looming discussions of a comprehensive agreement on the future of Iran’s nuclear power by the Nov. 24 diplomatic deadline, the sources also told the Wall Street Journal.
In recent days, the White House has said the chances for an agreement with Tehran are only 50-50.
This is the fourth time Obama has written to Khamenei since he took office in 2009, part of a pledge made by Obama to engage Iran’s government more frequently.
The United States’ other Middle East allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were not briefed on the letter.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest declined to comment on what he called “private correspondence” between the president and world leaders, but did not deny the letter’s existence.
“I don’t trust the Iranians, I don’t think we need to bring them into this,” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said when asked about the letter.
