While many progressives are somewhat understandably wary of any discussion of Iran, Obama realizes that not talking about the problem won't make it go away. He acknowledges the international problems caused by Iran and the challenges of dealing with the country. However, he goes on to call for a change in the conventional Washington establishment wisdom in the form of direct talks with Iranian leaders:

While conventional Washington thinking says we can only talk to people who agree with us, I believe that strong countries and strong Presidents shouldn't be afraid to talk directly to our adversaries to tell them where America stands. The Bush-Cheney diplomacy of not talking to Iran has not worked. As President, I will use all elements of American power to pressure the Iranian regime, including the power of tough, smart and principled diplomacy.

Obama goes on to call for an end to Administration opposition to  a bill enabling divestment from companies doing business with Iran (this kind of reminds me of Syriana with George Clooney, which you should really see if you haven't already).

Iran's troubling behavior depends in large part on access to billions of dollars in oil and gas revenue. That is why I introduced the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act last May, to build on a movement across the country to divest from companies that do significant business with Iran...

The bill works in three ways. First, it would educate investors and pressure foreign companies to reconsider doing business with Iran by requiring the U.S. government to publish - every six months - a list of companies that invest more than $20 million in Iran's energy sector. Second, it would give explicit congressional authorization to state and local governments to divest the assets of their pension funds and other funds under their control from any company on the list. Third, it would give private fund managers who divest protection from lawsuits, while urging the government's own 401(k) fund to create "terror-free" and "genocide-free" investment options for government employees.

This common-sense approach enjoys broad support. Sam Brownback, a Republican senator and presidential candidate, joined me in introducing this bill. A companion bill passed the House of Representatives 408 to 6. The only obstacle now is a single senator who placed an anonymous "hold" on the bill, blocking it from coming to a vote.

Obama finishes his piece by tying in some common campaign themes: increasing ethics standards and open government in Washington, challenging the foreign policy establishment, and calling for more diplomacy.

This is exactly the kind of unaccountable obstruction that needs to change in Washington. Instead of having a debate in the open, a Bush administration ally is blocking the bill through a secret Washington maneuver - a maneuver that would be banned if a sweeping bipartisan ethics reform bill that I led the fight to pass is signed into law.

Talking tough and keeping our troops in the middle of Iraq's civil war has only served to strengthen Iran's position. It's time to turn the page on a failed foreign policy. It's time for strong diplomacy backed by common-sense measures that pressure the Iranian regime.

It is encouraging to see a call for more diplomacy, and a frank acknowledgment of the way the Iraq war has left us unable to deal with the issue of Iran. While it is easy to imagine people getting angry about calling for divestment from companies conducting business with Iran in light of recent right-wing saber-rattling (in France, of all places), this is a reasonable way to enable carrot and stick diplomacy in order to produce the best results from talks with Iran during an Obama Administration. It is a step toward a reasonable diplomatic policy toward a country that has vexed the United States and Europe for quite some time.