Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei sent Obama secret letter: WSJ

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has responded to overtures from U.S. President Barack Obama amid nuclear talks by sending him a secret letter, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Citing an Iranian diplomat, the paper said the Iranian cleric had written to Obama in recent weeks in response to a presidential letter sent in October. Obama’s letter suggested the possibility of U.S.-Iranian cooperation in fighting Islamic State if a nuclear deal was secured, the paper said, quoting the diplomat. Khamenei’s letter was “respectful” but noncommittal, it quoted the diplomat as saying. The White House declined to comment on the report. Khamenei said this week he could accept a compromise in the nuclear talks and gave his strongest defense yet of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s decision to negotiate with the West, a policy opposed by powerful hardliners at home.