Letter From Iran Is No Opening

NewsMax.com Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed a surprise letter that Iran's president sent to President Bush on Monday, saying it did not seriously address the standoff over Tehran's disputed nuclear program. In an interview with The Associated Press, the top U.S. diplomat said the letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was 17 or 18 pages long and covered history, philosophy and religion. It was not a diplomatic opening, she said. "This letter isn't it. This letter is not the place that one would find an opening to engage on the nuclear issue or anything of the sort," Rice said. "It isn't addressing the issues that we're dealing with in a concrete way."