At the Hague, a summit on Afghanistan has yielded the first contact between the Obama administration and the Iranian government. On Tuesday, the US envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, had a brief, unplanned meeting with Iran’s deputy foreign minister. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed the exchange.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “It did not focus on anything substantive. It was cordial. It was unplanned. And they agreed to stay in touch. Separately, at my direction, a letter was delivered to the Iranians focusing on three US citizens currently unable to return to the United States from Iran. The fact that they came today, that they intervened today, is a promising sign that there will be future cooperation.”

Iranian leaders have called on the US to apologize for previous actions, including the 1953 overthrow of the democratically elected Iranian government.