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White House: Iran's letter not a nuclear fixAhmadinejad reportedly offers Bush 'new ways out'
 John Negroponte questioned whether the letter is an attempt to "influence the debate." RELATEDYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSFORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (CNN) -- The White House acknowledged Monday that it had received a letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but said the letter did not address the concerns over Iran's nuclear program. "There are a number of concerns that the international community has with the regime, and the letter doesn't appear to do anything to address those concerns," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters as President Bush headed to a fund-raising appearance in South Florida. Iranian officials said Ahmadinejad's letter proposed "new ways" to end the nuclear dispute, which is now before the U.N. Security Council. The United States accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, but Iran insists it is using nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Senior administration officials said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and national security adviser Stephen Hadley had reviewed the letter and considered it to be a broad, historical look at the U.S.-Iranian relationship. National Intelligence Director John Negroponte, the head of U.S. intelligence, said he had not yet read the letter, but that "certainly one of the hypotheses you'd have to examine is whether and in what way the timing of the dispatch of that letter is connected with trying in some manner to influence the debate before the [U.N.] Security Council." The Bush administration has joined Britain, France and Germany to pressure Iran to comply with the U.N. nuclear watchdog group, the International Atomic Energy Agency. 'New ways' to end crisisAhmadinejad's letter proposes "new ways for exiting from the current critical situation," Iranian spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said. Elham, quoted by the state-run television and radio network IRIB, said Ahmadinejad had "analyzed the current international condition and has pointed out the way to find the root causes." The letter was sent to Bush through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, Elham said. According to the state-run news agency IRNA, Ahmadinejad told reporters he had decided to send letters to leaders of certain countries on the occasion of the "Year of Great Prophet Mohammad." It is believed to be the first correspondence between the presidents of Iran and the United States since 1980, when Washington broke off ties with Tehran over its holding of American hostages. Security Council to debate resolutionThe announcement came just ahead of a meeting of the five permanent members of the Security Council in New York. Delegates will discuss a draft resolution on Iran that was introduced last week by the United States, France and Britain, demanding that Tehran give up its production of nuclear fuel or face penalties that could include economic sanctions. Russia and China, the other two permanent members of the Security Council, have said they oppose sanctions. Enriched uranium can be used to fuel power plants or, in much higher concentrations, to produce a nuclear explosion, while heavy-water reactors can be used to produce plutonium -- another element that can be used to produce a nuclear blast. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday that any consideration of a nuclear attack against Iran would be "absolutely absurd," The Associated Press reported. "I don't know anybody who has even talked or contemplated the prospect of a nuclear strike in Iran and that would be absolutely absurd," Blair said at his monthly news conference. CNN's Aneesh Raman and journalist Shirzad Bozorgmehr contributed to this report. Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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