White House: No plans for Obama Rouhani meeting at UN gathering

The White House announced Tuesday that there are no plans for a meeting between US President Barack Obama and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week. There has been mounting speculation Obama and Rouhani would get together on the sidelines of the UN gathering in New York where both are expected to speak next week. Such a meeting would be the first face-to-face encounter between a US and Iranian leader since President Jimmy Carter met with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in December 1977, 14 months before Iran's Islamic revolution. Obama's confirmation in a television interview this weekend that he and Rowhani had exchanged letters has sparked speculation about what would be an eye-opening meeting between the two leaders. "There are currently no plans for the president to meet with his Iranian counterpart at UNGA next week," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at his daily briefing. Carney added that Washington hoped the new Iranian government would be ready to "engage substantively" to ease international concerns about its nuclear program, which the West says is designed to produce weapons. "We remain ready to engage with the Rowhani government on the basis of mutual respect to achieve a peaceful resolution to the nuclear issue," he said.