Monday, May 08, 2006

US rejects surprise Iran letter

BBC

A surprise letter to the US president from Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will not solve the growing nuclear dispute, US officials have said.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough, telling the Associated Press: "This letter is not it."

The letter is thought to be the first from an Iranian president to a US leader since Iran's 1979 revolution.

It came hours before a meeting of UN Security Council members in New York.

Foreign ministers of the council members plus Germany were due to meet on Monday night to discuss how to proceed with Iran.

Mr Ahmadinejad dispatched the letter via the Swiss embassy in Tehran.

In it, he proposed "new solutions for getting out of international problems and the current fragile situation of the world", Iranian officials said on Monday.

But the White House joined Ms Rice in quickly denouncing the letter.

"It doesn't appear to do anything to address the concerns of the international community," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.

There has been no word on whether the letter mentioned the nuclear dispute, currently one of the major issues between Iran and the US.

Interviewed by AP, Ms Rice said: "There's nothing in here that would suggest that we're on any different course than we were before we got the letter."

Mr McClellan would also not confirm whether Mr Bush had personally read the letter, saying only: "I would just leave it at what I said: We've received it."

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