TEHRAN — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran sent an unusual letter congratulating President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday for his victory in the American presidential race, even though the two nations have had no diplomatic ties for nearly 30 years.
This is the first time an Iranian leader has congratulated the winner of an American election, at least since the Iranian revolution.
Diplomatic ties between Iran and the United States were severed in 1979, when radical students attacked the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took American diplomats hostage.
Ahmadinejad had said he did not think a black candidate could be elected because of racial discrimination.
“I congratulate you for attracting the majority of votes in the election,” Ahmadinejad wrote in his message, Iranian news agency ISNA reported.
