Tehran, Oct 8 (IANS) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has thanked the Pope for condemning an American pastor's plan to burn the Quran, a media report said.

Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI, thanking him for condemning the move by a Florida pastor and stressed the necessity of close cooperation between religions, Xinhua reported citing the ISNA news agency.

"I offer my thanks to your Excellency for your condemnation of an unwise move by a Florida church in the US to desecrate the holy Quran which saddened millions of Muslims across the world," Ahmadinejad said in the letter.

The letter was delivered to the Pope by Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Mirtajodini.

Terry Jones, a pastor at the Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center, planned to mark the 9/11 anniversary by burning copies of the Quran in his church, but he later cancelled the plan in the face of condemnation and protests around the world.