Romney ‘stunned’ by Obama’s letter to Iran

Mitt Romney said Friday that he was stunned by reports of President Obama’s letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“That the president would write a letter of this nature, in effect legitimizing a nation and a leadership that is violating international norms and is threatening the world, is so far beyond the pale, I was stunned. I was speechless,” Romney said according to Haaretz newspaper and a number of other media outlets. 

{mosads}He made the comments at the first conference of the Israeli-American Council in Washington, D.C. on Friday night.

The White House has neither confirmed nor denied reports that Obama sent a letter to the leader last month. 

Both countries have an interest in defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The Wall Street Journal reported that Obama indicated that any cooperation in Iraq and Syria could hinge on Iran coming to a nuclear agreement in negotiations with the United States and five other countries before the deadline later this month.  

On Saturday, Secretary of State John Kerry said there the nuclear negotiations are separated from any other issue. 

He refused to comment or confirm any letter being sent. 

“There is no linkage whatsoever of the nuclear discussions with any other issue, and I want to make that absolutely clear,” Kerry said in Beijing, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. 

Kerry is slated to hold multiple days of face-to-face talks with his Iranian counterpart starting Sunday. 

“The nuclear negotiations are on their own, they are standing separate from anything else, and no discussion has ever taken place about linking one thing to another, one involvement with another, that I am aware of,” he added.