Has there been a change of course in US-Iran relations?

Two years ago two former high-ranking American policy experts argued that the US had secretly been preparing for war with Iran. That war hasn't happened yet and the Obama administration has been publicly, and no doubt privately, trying to construct a way for meaningful dialogue with the US. The hawkish Republican officials are gone, but does their planning remain?

America's obsession with Iran

Seymour Hersh has an interesting article about America's obsession with Iran. The article covers the possible moves towards peace between Syria and Israel but constantly comes back to Iran. Peace between Syria and Israel is, for both the United States and Israel, a way to either break Syria off from Iran (and reduce the influence of a combined Syrian-Iranian support network for Hizbullah and Hamas) or a way to open a dialogue between Iran and the West. The best quote in the article, for comedy value, must be from the Syrian Vice-President in explaining why minority-governed secular Syria could become allied with religious revolutionary Iran:

Farouk al-Shara, the Vice-President of Syria, was, as Foreign Minister, his nation’s chief negotiator at Shepherdstown. When he was asked whether Syria’s relationship with Iran would change if the Golan Heights issue was resolved, he said, “Do you think a man only goes to bed with a woman he deeply loves?” Shara laughed, and added, “That’s my answer to your question about Iran.”