Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has written a letter to US President George W. Bush, proposing "new solutions" to resolve tensions in the world and differences between them, Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters on Monday.
"President Ahmadinejad has written a letter to George Bush,which was sent via the Swiss Embassy in Tehran which has a US interests section," Elham said.
"In this letter, President Ahmadinejad analyzed the world situation and the roots of the problems. He has proposed new solutions for getting out of international problems and current fragile situation of the world," the spokesman said.
This is the first letter from an Iranian president to his American counterpart in 27 years.
The United States, which severed diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980 after the seizure of US hostages in Tehran, has no contact with the Islamic Republic.
Elham did not mention if Ahmadinejad had touched upon Iran's nuclear issue, which the United States and Iran are at logger heads.
Washington suspects that Iran is trying to make atomic weapons under the cover of peaceful energy development. But Iran strongly denied such accusations, vowing never to give up to pressures.
Also on Monday, the White House confirmed that it had received a letter from Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the letter did not address international concerns about Iran's nuclear program.
"It doesn't appear to do anything to address the concerns of the international community," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan, who is traveling with President George W. Bush to Florida.
"There are a number of concerns that the international community has with the (Iranian) regime and the letter doesn't appear to do anything to address those concerns," McClellan said.
However, both the White House and the State Department said earlier in the day that they were "unaware" of a letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President George W. Bush.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said that the Iranian president's letter to Bush could create a "new diplomatic opening," but also warned that the letter did not reflect a softening in Iran's position.
(Xinhua News Agency May 9, 2006)
