"We keep hearing they want to bring Iran in, but Iran will come with conditions," he said.

If Obama is to bring Iran to talks, he will have to overcome a good deal of resistance in Washington.

The Bush administration was right to bring Iran before the Security Council.

In the long run, they have helped bring Iran one step closer to democracy.

"Financial pressures will not bring Iran to the negotiating table."

There are pragmatists in the leadership who want to bring Iran back to the West.

At one stage, Iraq was seen by foreign observers as seeking to bring Iran to the negotiating table by force.

"If we adopt a policy of stop and go, it could bring Iran nearer to what we don't want each time," said a European diplomat.

And China shares our larger goal of bringing Iran back into compliance with the UN.

Later historians have marked this as the first in a series of mistakes that would bring Iran to a verge of defeat.