A report that the US President Barack Obama wrote a secret letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month, discussing their shared interest in fighting the Islamic State militants, has created a round of backlashes from American politicians.
This comes after The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Obama wrote to Khamenei in the middle of last month. The report stressed that any cooperation in fighting against the deadly ISIS jihadists was tied to Iran striking a deal over its nuclear programme.
The White House has declined to comment on Obama's "private correspondence." However, the story has created quite a frenzy among politicians in the country. Although there is no certainty if the letter really exists, a senior congressional source told Fox News that there's no doubt that its true because "we've seen (the president) do it before, so there is precedent.
The Journal report said Obama has written to Khamenei four times since taking the office.
The congressional source told the Fox News that the letter – if it was indeed sent – would now spoil the good relations they have tried to maintain with "the Sunni league" nothing that the President should have informed Congress of this "back channel".
"This f***s up everything," the source told the news channel.
Officials with the Obama administration have placed the changes of a deal on Iran's nuclear programme at only 50-50, the Wall Street Journal noted.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to begin negotiations on the issue with Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif this weekend in Oman.
Asked about the so-called secret letter written to the Iranian leader, the White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to comment, instead saying, "I can tell you that the policy that the president and his administration have articulated about Iran remains unchanged."
