Melting the ice of US-Iran dialog

In late 90s when Clinton administration was begging Khatami's government for dialog, the Iranian conservatives did everything to block such an event. In his last attendance at the UN General Assembly(Sep 2000) Bill Clinton sat in for Khatami's speech and showed interest in talking personally to Khatami even at the level of brief encounter in the elevator. There is a rumor that Khatami (who was under serious pressures from conservatives) locked himself in the restrooms for over 10 minutes to avoid any contact.

Anyway, now that the conservatives are in power and the isolated Iran is in its weakest position ever, they are begging for a dialog with US. But since US is in deep trouble in Iraq, the Iranian conservatives have the chance of getting something out of their negotiations. Still, I'm optimist about this development. If there is one thing good out of all of this nuclear crap, it is the fall of the long taboo of dialog between US and Iran.