Currently, even if some inside Iran seriously wanted to resolve the U.S.-Iran standoff, it would not be smart to bet on the immediate thawing of the frozen relations. However, the point that is of importance in this midst relates to the Iranian people and their future.

In foreign policy, the Islamic Republic now is in possession of some capital. What is meant is the list that the Americans would probably put on the table for discussion if and when the negotiations begin. This capital includes the Hamas, Hezbollah, the situation in Iraq and peace in Afghanistan. Perhaps in the future Iran's closeness with Latin America's defiant regimes can be added to this list.

One of the Islamic Republic's last losses in its conflict with the West is the fact that America finally got serious and decided to enter into open talks with the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader. For a regime that claims to be popular, it is not an achievement that thirty years after its founding, others have realized that they must resolve their differences with the person in charge for life - that the elected institutions have no power.

For Ayatollah Khomeini, from that day when the monarchy crumbled with the announcement by the royal army commanders, it was not only probable but perhaps inevitable - because of the society's authoritarian culture - to occupy the fallen Shah's place. But the Islamic Republic's founder wanted the Shia regime to be a model, built on the people's votes. He wanted to make the new regime permanent and knew that he should not fall for the prescriptions of those who are always ready to turn power into absolute power and pit any regime against its own people. Now, is it cause for celebration now that, thirty years after joining the ranks of the republic's in the world, the White House has finally realized where the real power resides in Iran?

I guess that with Obama's new approach, the U.S.-Iran feud has fallen on the tracks of peace. That is cause for joy. But what now? Aren't elections and voting meaningless now that the Islamic Republic foreign policy has been insulated from the current president's unwise remarks? Have we not moved a step closer toward the rule of absolute power, which somebody pointed out of being of no future twenty years ago?