Guardian: Obama To Send Friendly Letter To Iran

(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The U.K.'s Guardian newspaper reported Thursday that President Obama's administration is preparing to send a letter to the Iranian people aimed at setting the tone for a new relationship and the first direct talks in decades between the two countries.

According to the Guardian, Obama's staff have been working on the letter since the day he was elected and there are currently three drafts under consideration. All of them aim to pave the way to direct talks between Iran and the U.S. — the first such contacts in three decades.

CBS News has not been able to confirm the that the Obama administration is penning a letter to the Iranian people.

(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Sources told the Guardian that the letter will be signed by Mr. Obama, addressed to the Iranian people, and sent either directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei (at left), or released as an open letter.

(Click here to read the Guardian article.)

It appears more likely with every passing day that direct talks between Iran the United States — as espoused from early in the Obama campaign — are in store.

What isn't clear yet, and won't be until after the first contacts (at the earliest), is what can be achieved by the two nations which, despite new U.S. leadership, still do more accusing and finger-pointing than talking. (Here's my take from yesterday on the challenge of "unclenching" proverbial fists from yesterday.)

Tucker Reals

Tucker Reals is the CBSNews.com foreign editor, based at the CBS News London bureau.

More from CBS News