To president Barack Obama, the historic nuclear accord with Iran in validation of an ardous, politically fraught diplomatic gamble, one he foreshadowed before winning the white house and that will shape his legacy long after he leaves.
The president's opening months in office included public and private overtunes to tehran, all with a more concilliatory tone aimed at signalling a shift from predessecor George Bush, who cast Iran as an "axis of evil"
Obama said to Iran he was willing to extend a hand if it is willing to unclench its first. He exchanged letters with Iran's supreme leader; Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. he used concilliatory language in a videotaped message to both the people and government of Iran on the Persian new year calling for engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.
Obama has taken a similar approach — clandestine diplomacy, prioritizing negotiations over military action — to other foreign policy challenges, with mixed results. Plans to negotiate an end to Syria's bloody civil war have gone nowhere. A resumption of diplomatic relations with Cuba after a half-century of hostilities is moving along largely as planned. This is totally all about a comprehensive long term deal with Iran that will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
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