Return of the “unclenched fist.”

Via Ynet:

US, Iran are communicating about Syria and are moving behind the scenes toward direct talks over Tehran’s nuclear program, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

Reportedly, US President Obama reached out to Iranian President Hassan Rohani. According to the Times, US officials have suggested the two leaders may meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, on September 24.

Officials from both states, the report noted, were laying the groundwork for potential face-to-face talks between the two governments, the first in 34 years since radical students seized the US Embassy in Tehran and founded the Islamic theocracy, an event that led to the breaking of diplomatic ties between the two nations.

Iran’s new envoy to the UN nuclear agency said on Thursday he would cooperate with it to find a way to “overcome existing issues once and for all”, potentially signalling a more flexible approach from Tehran’s new administration.

But Ambassador Reza Najafi, at his first board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also repeated Iran’s position that it would not give up what it sees as its legitimate right to a peaceful nuclear energy program.

“Based on its rights and obligations recognized under the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty), Iran is ready to faithfully engage and remove any ambiguity on its nuclear activities,” Najafi told the governing board of the Vienna-based UN agency.