In many ways, in the twenty-two months since Barack Obama took office not much has changed in U.S.-Iran relations. With upcoming talks in early December, it is unlikely that changes in the status quo will occur in the interim. At this point, neither the location nor the agenda for talks have been set. There is also little goodwill on both sides. Nonetheless, there is a perceptible shift in the diplomatic winds between the two countries that may signal an end to this enduring saga, even if it may be slow in coming. Ironically, the change has much to do with the Obama Administration s decision to play the last card short of military action, namely, sanctions that bite , as well as its declared refusal to settle for containment. As Defense Secretary Gates stated, I don t think we are ever prepared to talk about containing a nuclear Iran. Our view is that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable.

On the 31st anniversary of the hostage-taking of U.S. diplomats in Iran, a dozen of Iranian student activists and members of the country's largest reformist student group have called on U.S. President Barack Obama to follow up the case of current and former student activists who are in jail in Iran. In a letter to the U.S. president, the student activists call those in jail "student hostages

Barack Obama has condemned the Iranian president over his recent remarks about 9/11, in an interview with the BBC's Persian service. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments that most people believe the US government was behind the 9/11 attacks were made during an address at the United Nations and prompted a walk out by some delegates.

Here is President Obama's comment on Ahamdinejad's speech at the UN - He calles the rehtoric appalling and objectionable, and harmful to the iranian people

The US president has reiterated his administration's offer of dialogue with Iran, but said that Tehran's leaders had "turned their backs" on previous overtures.

WASHINGTON - In a surprisingly swift move last Thursday night that could have wide-ranging implications, the United States Senate passed a bill containing broad unilateral sanctions to punish foreign companies that export gasoline to Iran or help expand its domestic refinery capabilities.