US President Barack Obama is pushing to make good his promise to foment greater dialogue with the Middle East. Having conducted his very first television interview as president with Al Arabiya on Jan. 27, Obama took another step last month by addressing the people of Iran in an open broadcast message.

The move has produced some hope. Broadcast over Nowruz, the Persian New Year, Khamanei and Ahmadenijad’s broadcast speeches made no mention at all of Obama’s message at first. Later,  Ahmadinejad requested that the US issue an apology for its previous stance.

Not surprisingly, Obama’s olive branch came with preconditions about Iran’s influence on Hezbollah and its nuclear ambitions. In exchange for restoring ties, Obama said the way forward for Iran must not be, “through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization. And the measure of that greatness is not the capacity to destroy, it is your demonstrated ability to build and create.”

Using such lofty rhetoric to couch the true meaning of the US president’s intent is nothing new; neither is Obama choosing an open address as his medium. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made similar moves towards other nations during his tenure. Last year, the UK’s Channel 4 Television broadcast a video message from Ahma-dinejad to the UK during Christmas. In 1998, former President Khatami called for improved relations with the US, then withdrew his comments a week later through a series of sermons criticizing Washington’s policies.

Nevertheless, Obama’s address pre-sages the forthcoming Iranian elections in June, in which Ahmadinejad is trying to secure a second term. However, Oba-ma’s message is aimed at Iran’s supreme ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and whoever else sits in Iran’s presidential chair.

The response from Iran’s leaders seemed bellicose, and was mistakenly reviewed by newspapers such as the New York Times as a rebuff. In fact, the language showed a slight softening – even if demands to the US seem impossible: severing ties with Israel, apologizing for its previous relations with Iran, dropping both UN and US sanctions and accepting Iran’s goal of enriching uranium.

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