Weeks before the explosive elections in Iran, President Obama sent a message to the nation’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, requesting a personal meeting with him. Although Khamenei has not yet replied to Obama’s request, sources told CNN that Iran “had set the negotiating table in order for both sides to sit around it after the election.” The Obama administration, however, has declined to discuss the specifics “of our different ways of communicating,” CNN reports. “We have indicated a willingness to talk for a long time and have sought to communicate with the Iranians in a variety of ways,” a senior Obama administration official said. Speaking in the Iranian capital of Tehran Friday, Khamenei made an indirect reference to the letter. “The U.S. president said that we were waiting for a day like this to see people on the street,” the Iranian leader said. “Some people attributed these remarks to Obama, and then they write letters to say we’re ready to have ties, that we respect the Islamic Republic, and on the other hand, they make such comments. Which one should we believe?” An Iranian source told CNN, “We thought President Obama would send congratulations to President Ahmadinejad,” and before the election, his senior advisers prepared a response to the anticipated note, which never came.