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BARACK OBAMA is making a determined effort to engage Iran. On Friday March 20th the president of America released a videotaped message to the Islamic Republic, offering a “new beginning” in relations between the two countries. In the recording, timed to mark the Iranian new year, Mr Obama called for a diplomatic process that “will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.” After three decades of a dialogue of the deaf, with a particularly antagonistic period when George Bush confronted Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the current Iranian president, the Great Satan is seeking to reopen a conversation.