"Talks work both ways"

Jules Crittenden explains why recent U.S.-Iran talks should not be seen as such a momentous event, or a great shift in policy:

The United States, aside from politely telling Iran in Monday’s chat to put a lid on its organized crime operations, has also been talking. The Mahdi Army was under attack both in Baghdad and Basra before the hostage-taking, which ramped up the pressure in Sadr City. There was also the high-profile show of force in the Persian Gulf.

Iran is also dealing with increasingly deadly ethnic, anti-regime insurgencies in its northwest and southeast regions, which it blames on us. But perhaps most frightening to the Islamic regime in its current precarious domestic situation, was the leak of a presidential authorization for the destabilize Iran politically and economically. Iran is now trying to forestall overt economic sanctions with a halfway offer to come clean on its nuclear program.

Crittenden seems to be picking up on Pat Dollard's theme, as in: What No One Is Telling You About Our Talks With Iran.