Report: Obama secretly asked Iran about fighting ISIS

Report: Obama secretly asked Iran about fighting ISIS
(Image credit: Majid/Getty Images)

President Obama wrote to Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month about potentially joining the U.S. in the fight against ISIS, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The letter appeared aimed both at buttressing the Islamic State campaign and nudging Iran's religious leader closer to a nuclear deal.

Mr. Obama stressed to Mr. Khamenei that any cooperation on Islamic State was largely contingent on Iran reaching a comprehensive agreement with global powers on the future of Tehran's nuclear program by a Nov. 24 diplomatic deadline, the same people say. [The Wall Street Journal]

Over the summer, Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. was open to talking with Iran about combating ISIS, but that such cooperation would not involve military coordination. Iran later ruled out working with the U.S. to thwart ISIS.

Read the whole Wall Street Journal report here.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.