Iran letter to Bush talks of ‘new solutions’

First letter in 27 years from an Iranian president to US president ‘could lead to new openings’

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote to President George W Bush on Monday proposing “new solutions” to turn around Tehran’s plummeting relationship with the United States and other Western powers—a move apparently timed to blunt US determination for a UN Security Council vote this week that could lead to punishing sanctions against the Islamic regime.

The letter was an abrupt about-face for the fiery Ahmadinejad who has spent months vilifying the Bush administration and its allies as bullies who were trying to wrongly deny the Iranians the right to enrich uranium for fuel in nuclear reactors to generate electricity. The Bush administration and some Western allies are concerned the programme is a cover for making nuclear weapons.

The Ahmadinejad letter was the first from an Iranian head of state to an American president in 27 years and may signal a demand that he be treated as an equal in finding a way out of the prolonged dispute over its nuclear programme.

Story continues below this ad

The Ahmadinejad letter, delivered by the Iranian foreign minister to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, proposed “new solutions for getting out of international problems and the current fragile situation of the world,” spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham told a news conference. Elham declined to reveal more, stressing “it is not an open letter.” Asked whether the letter could lead to direct US-Iranian negotiations, he replied: “For the time being, it’s just a letter.”

In Turkey, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said the letter “could lead to a new diplomatic opening” but also warned it contained no softening in Iran’s position. He refused to give details of the letter’s content, but said, “Perhaps, it could lead to a new diplomatic opening. It needs to be given some time.”

In Washington, Bush’s National Security Adviser, Stephen Hadley, said that he was not aware of any such letter, and he reiterated the administration’s position on Iran’s nuclear programme. “The international community has been very clear to Iran what it needs to do,” Hadley said on a TV show. “It needs to return to the suspension of its nuclear activities in order to open the door for a diplomatic resolution.”

Meanwhile, six foreign ministers prepared on Monday to chart a common course on a UNSC resolution that would order Tehran to suspend its nuclear programmes. So far, however, the ministers, invited to a dinner in New York by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have not agreed on key points of the proposed measure, such as invoking Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, used in dozens of Council resolutions for peacekeeping missions and other legally binding actions.

Story continues below this ad

Russia and China, which have veto power, fear too much pressure on Iran would be self-defeating or precipitate an oil crisis. Both worry the US would use the resolution to justify military action.

EAM Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Rubio hold bilateral discussions in New York

India3 hr ago

Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar and US Senator Rubio met in New York to discuss the 25% tariff on Indian oil imposed by Trump. This was their first in-person meeting since the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting. India and the US also began talks for a trade agreement, with positive discussions during a recent visit by US trade officials to India.

View all shorts

Live Blog