The President of the United States of America The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, DC 20500

October 7, 2013 Dear Mr. President, We applaud your decision to use diplomacy vigorously in an effort to reach agreements with Iran, particularly given President Hassan Rouhani's apparent openness to greater transparency and internationally-accepted and verifiable limits on Iran's nuclear program. The hard work of diplomacy begins now. Decades of distrust and lack of contact between the two countries will complicate the task of reaching agreements that will provide us the assurance we require that Iran's nuclear program will be used only for peaceful purposes. You will undoubtedly face opposition to your decision to engage Iran. We support this new policy and pledge to help our fellow Americans appreciate the ambitious and transformative course you have chosen to build a more peaceful and more cooperative environment in the Middle East. The diplomatic option is the right one at this time in view of the initiatives taken by the Iranian government that were made possible in part by your past policies. We wish you well in this constructive and important new undertaking. Respectfully, Morton Abramowitz , former Ambassador to Thailand and Turkey

John Beyrle , former Ambassador to Russia and Bulgaria Hamid Biglari , formerly Vice Chairman of CitiGroup Avis Bohlen , former Ambassador to Bulgaria and former Assistant Secretary for Arms Control Stephen Cheney , Brigadier General of the Unites States Marine Corps (RET) and Chief Executive Officer of the American Security Project Ryan Crocker , former Ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan Suzanne DiMaggio , Asia Society Nancy Ely-Raphel , former Ambassador to Slovenia Leslie H.Gelb , President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations Lee H. Hamilton , former member of the United States House of Representatives William Harrop , former Ambassador to Israel and State Department Inspector General Stephen Heintz , President, Rockefeller Brothers Fund Christopher Hill , former Ambassador to Iraq, Macedonia, Poland and Korea Carla Hills , former U.S. Trade Representative and United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Daniel Kurtzer , former Ambassador to Israel and Egypt John Limbert , former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iran and former Ambassador to Mauritania William H. Luers , former Ambassador to Venezuela and Czechoslovakia Jessica T. Mathews , President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Richard McCormack , former Ambassador to the Organization of American States and Under Secretary of State for Economic and Agricultural Affairs William G. Miller , former Ambassador to Ukraine Richard Murphy , former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Syria, the Philippines Gregory Newbold , Lieutenant General United States Marine Corps (RET) Ronald Neumann , former Ambassador Afghanistan, Algeria and Bahrain

Joseph Nye , former Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Paul Pillar , formerly Central Intelligence Agency Thomas R. Pickering , former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Ambassador to Israel, India Jordan, Russia and the United Nations William A. Reinsch , National Foreign Trade Council Karim Sadjadpour , Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Gary Sick , Columbia University Anne-Marie Slaughter , President, New America Foundation James Walsh , Massachusetts Institute of Technology John Whitehead , former Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Wilkerson , United States Army Colonel (RET) and former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Timothy Wirth , former United States Senator and Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Frank G. Wisner , former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Ambassador to Egypt and India ###