Tehran, April 14, 2010 : President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has urged Barack Obama to follow Tehran’s example in fighting terrorism in a letter sent to his US counterpart, the Iranian leader’s office said on Wednesday.

“Questions like the attack on Afghanistan, the expansion of instability and insecurity in the region and America’s backing for terrorism were raised in the letter,” said Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, the Iranian presidency’s chief of staff.

“The president has also asked Obama to learn from Iran on how to combat terrorism,” Mashaie said.

In the letter, which was sent in the Iranian month of Esfand (February 20 to March 21), Ahmadinejad also brought up the topic of Sunni militant Abdolmalek Rigi, whom Iran arrested in February and accuses of being backed by Washington.

“The aim of writing this letter is for the world to grasp the view of the Islamic republic of Iran and also criticise US policies in the region,” Mashaie said.

Ahmadinejad had previously written a letter to Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush in May 2006. The same year in November he had also written an open letter to the American people.

In recent days, Ahmadinejad has raised fresh doubts over the occurrence of the 2001 attacks on the United States, and even written to the UN chief Ban Ki-moon to launch a probe into what he has called a “big lie.”