Can Pianist Yanni Surmount Sanctions to Bring U.S.-Iran Harmony?

Can the pianist Yanni do what negotiations between U.S. and Iranian diplomats have failed to accomplish: bring a little harmony to two nations that have been adversaries for 35 years?

Just as “ping-pong diplomacy” helped bring the U.S. and China closer together four decades ago, next year will bring easy-listening diplomacy to Iran if Yanni’s promoters and his Iranian fans have their way. But the Greek-American minstrel’s message of global understanding through music will make it there -- where he could become the first Western musician to perform since the 1979 Islamic Revolution -- only with a green light from authorities in both Tehran and Washington.