--- title: U.S. Seeks Channels of Communication With Iran description: President Obama is attempting to open channels of communication with Iran concerning the war on ISIS. canonical: https://time.com/3571687/iran-obama-communication-isis/ author: Helen Regan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-07T06:17:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:17:57.484Z article:section: Politics og:title: U.S. Gets Chatty with Iran Over ISIS og:description: Obama is attempting to open new channels of communication with Tehran about ISIS og:url: https://time.com/3571687/iran-obama-communication-isis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. Gets Chatty with Iran Over ISIS twitter:description: Obama is attempting to open new channels of communication with Tehran about ISIS twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # U.S. Seeks New Channels of Communication With Iran by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Nov 7, 2014 6:17 AM CUT by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Nov 7, 2014 6:17 AM CUT U.S. President Barack Obama is attempting to [open](http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/06/politics/obama-iran-isis-letter/index.html "undefined") fresh channels of communication with Iran concerning the war with ISIS. A Pentagon official says the channels have become “necessary” as Tehran and Washington are now operating in the same areas, CNN reports. Although the specifics of these discussions have not been revealed, an unnamed source told CNN that airspace management needed to be addressed so U.S. and Iranian operations wouldn’t conflict. The Iraqi military is apparently acting as a conduit. This revelation comes after reports Obama sent a secret [letter](http://time.com/3564928/report-obama-sent-secret-letter-to-ayatollah-khamenei/ "undefined") to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatullah Khamenei last month. [Read more at CNN](http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/06/politics/obama-iran-isis-letter/index.html "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3571687/iran-obama-communication-isis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3571687/iran-obama-communication-isis/"},"headline":"U.S. Seeks New Channels of Communication With Iran","datePublished":"2014-11-07T06:17:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:17:57.484Z","description":"A U.S. military official says the channels have become “necessary”","url":"https://time.com/3571687/iran-obama-communication-isis/","keywords":["White House","Military","Iran","ISIS","communication"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Helen Regan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/helen-regan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3571687/iran-obama-communication-isis/","name":"U.S. Seeks New Channels of Communication With Iran"}}]}] ```