AREN'T YOU EXCITED BY THIS? – AT 4:20 P.M. ET:  It's so heartening to see these dramatic moves toward peace and eternal harmony.  From the Jerusalem Post:

Iran agreed to renew talks with world powers on its nuclear program, a European Union spokesperson told AFP on Tuesday.

Iranian negotiator Said Jalili will reportedly meet with EU chief diplomat Catherine Ashton, who will lead the "5+1" group of nations negotiating with Iran, on December 6-7. The talks will be the first between Iran and the six world powers since October 2009.

"We've now received a response from the Iranian authorities in which they have said that Dr. Jalili has accepted Catherine Ashton's proposal to meet in Geneva," the EU spokesman told AFP. "Talks between Catherine Ashton and Dr. Jalili will now take place on Monday and Tuesday next week in Geneva."

COMMENT:  As they say, endlessly, in Hollywood, "I'm very excited about it."

Another round of talks.  They've been talking for years.  Nothing has come of it.  We've been talking with North Korea for years.  Nothing has come of that either.

And nothing will come of these new talks...unless the Iranians are firmly convinced that they will suffer staggering consequences if there is no resolution to their nuclear program.  But what do they see?  They see a weak American president whose government can't even keep its secrets, and they see Catherine Ashton, a throwback to 1930s European diplomacy.

Expect nothing.  But of course Obama will endorse the talks.  That's all he's got.

November 30, 2010