WASHINGTON — In a rare outreach to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Obama has written a letter about the fight against Islamic State militants, a common enemy in Syria, Iran, and Iraq, according to diplomatic sources.
The United States and Iran are each engaged in military efforts to degrade the Islamic State group, essentially putting the longtime foes on the same side in the campaign against the extremists. However, the Obama administration has repeatedly insisted it is not coordinating and will not coordinate its military actions with Iran, though officials from both countries have discussed the matter more broadly.
Obama’s letter to Iran’s powerful religious leader comes against the backdrop of the looming Nov. 24 deadline in nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran, as well as five other world powers.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported that Obama had sent the letter, said it described a shared interest in fighting Islamic State militants and stressed any cooperation on that would be largely contingent on Iran agreeing to the nuclear deal.
However, without confirming or denying the existence of the letter, administration officials said there were still no plans to cooperate or coordinate with Iran against the militants.
‘‘The United States will not cooperate militarily with Iran in that effort,’’ White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. ‘‘We won’t share intelligence with them.’’
Diplomatic sources separately confirmed the existence of the letter to the Associated Press. They did so on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss Obama’s outreach.