Obama and Iran

Obama is reaching out to Iran which shifts the outward appearance of U.S. policy for the first time in over 50 years. He mentions the holiday of Nowruz, a ancient Persian holiday representing the first day of spring and the New Year of the Iranian calendar.

Wikipedia contained an interesting entry about the holiday of Nowruz:

...An important day during the time of the Achaemenids (c. 648-330 BC), where kings from different nations under the Persian empire used to bring gifts to the emperor (Shahanshah) of Persia on Nowruz.

Here we have Obama, a leader from a different nation offering the gift of renewed relations. How long has this idea been incubating to reach out to Iran in this way? And what is the foreign policy reasoning?

He begins by speaking directly to the Iranian people and their leadership. After giving them recognition for their great contributions through history he talks about the strained relations the US and Iran have had for 3 decades. 1979 was the year of the hostage crisis and the overthrow of the US inserted Shah.

Guardian Article and Obama Video:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/21/barack-obama-iran-video-message

Now using the renewal of the holiday he is reaching out to allow Iran to enter into its rightful role on the world stage. It comes in interesting times when Iran is brokering deals around the world for its oil resources. And at the same time the US is losing its superpower status by the minute. After the rhetoric of the Bush/Cheney buildup against Iran one is left to wonder if this is a dramatic shift or merely trickery in disguise.