Obama's Nuclear Message to Iranian Officials

A member of the Iranian Parliament's presiding board announced the delivery of a 'nuclear message' from Barack Obama, the President of the United States, to Iranian officials during Haider al-Abadi's recent visit to Iran. According to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), Mehrdad Bazrpash refrained from detailing this 'special message' due to what he described as 'national security issues,' while adding that 'this message aligns with the U.S. government's need to reach a nuclear agreement.' Bazrpash's statements come at a time when, according to the newspaper Hamshahri, officials from Iran's Foreign Ministry, including 'an informed source at the Iraq desk of the Foreign Ministry,' have expressed 'ignorance' about this news. Haider al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, met with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, during his visit to Iran on Wednesday, June 17. Barack Obama had bilateral meetings with Haider al-Abadi during the Iraqi Prime Minister's recent visit to the United States and also on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Germany held in June. In previous years, reports have emerged regarding letters from the U.S. President to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and Ayatollah Khamenei's responses to some of these letters. For instance, the American newspaper Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, February 13, 2015, that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had responded to a letter from Barack Obama, which was reportedly written in October (Mehr month) addressed to the Supreme Leader. Two days after this report was published, Yadollah Javani, the former political deputy and current advisor to the representative of the 'Guardian Jurist' in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated without mentioning the number of letters that responses to the U.S. President's letters to the Supreme Leader were 'respectful, reasonable, and logical.' Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council of Iran, implicitly confirmed on Sunday, November 16, 2014, that Barack Obama had written to him during Ayatollah Khamenei's hospitalization, requesting Iran's cooperation for the 'destruction of ISIS.' In 2011, after a report in the New York Times regarding a warning from the White House to the Supreme Leader about closing the Strait of Hormuz, Ramin Mehmanparast, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, confirmed the receipt of this letter. Previously, Iranian media had reported that Barack Obama had written two letters to Ayatollah Khamenei in 2009. The news about Barack Obama's letter to Ayatollah Khamenei comes as reports indicate that negotiations between Iranian experts and the 1+5 group in Vienna are still ongoing, with only two days remaining until the deadline set for reaching a final agreement.