WASHINGTON, May 9: US President George Bush has no plans to respond to a letter he received from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the White House said on Tuesday. “It’s not an issue of whether we respond,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. “It’s an issue of whether the regime will respond to the demand of the international community.”

The letter, he said, did ‘nothing at all’ to address the concerns the international community has regarding Iran’s nuclear programme. “The regime needs to come clean and comply with its obligations,” he added. “The letter appears to be more about trying to change the subject.”

Asked if President Bush was going to respond to the letter, Mr McClellan urged Iran to respond to the demands of the international community to end “its pursuit of nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian programme” rather than expecting others to respond to it.

Although President Bush has so far not responded to the letter, he told an audience at a senior citizens’ centre in Florida earlier on Tuesday that his diplomatic efforts to resolve the nuclear dispute were still at an ‘early stage.’ He said: “Our objective is to not let them get the bomb first of all,” adding that most nations of the world “have come together around that goal.”

US officials said the letter did not suggest new proposals for resolving the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme but Mr Ahmedinejad did present the Iranian point of view on the subject. Iran, he said, was justified in pursuing its ‘basic right’ to have nuclear technology. “Why is it that any technological and scientific achievement reached in the Middle East region is translated into and portrayed as a threat to the Zionist regime,” he asked, referring to Israel.

In the letter, Mr Ahmadinejad draws heavily from the common faith of Muslims and Christians about Jesus Christ and urges President Bush to embrace Christian teachings as a mean of establishing trust between the two states. “Will you not accept this invitation?” he asked.

“We believe a return to the teachings of the divine prophets is the only road leading to salvation. I have been told that Your Excellence follows the teachings of Jesus ... and believes in the divine promise of the rule of the righteous on Earth.