The White House and the State Department denied on Thursday a report in the British newspaper the Guardian that Obama administration was working on a letter to Iranian leadership aimed at easing relations between the two countries. The newspaper said the letter was in response to one sent to Obama by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shortly after Obama was elected.
White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs told reporters, "Neither the president nor the secretary of state has seen such a letter.” He added that there are a number of issues that the administration would like to see the Iranian leadership address, including its “illicit” nuclear program, support for terrorism and threats against Israel.
State Department spokesperson Robert Wood told reporters, “I can tell you with certainty that no one – not the Secretary, or the President, no one has tasked anybody within the administration to draft any kind of a letter to Iran.”