Back in June, Iran’s presidential elections had a surprise winner: reformer Hassan Rouhani. Western-educated, Rouhani took to Twitter to express his more favorable views of the U.S. He even suggested he was open to a new approach on the nuclear issue. Rouhani’s attitude (and his openness about it on public forums like Twitter) eased US-Iran relations.

As Sweden’s foreign minister, Carl Bildt, noted in the wake of the interim deal on Iran’s nuclear program reached in Geneva on Saturday, the effort by Tehran’s negotiating team to explain and justify the country’s push for atomic energy behind closed doors was accompanied by a public diplomacy campaign conducted online.

French President Francois Hollande on Sunday laid out four demands which must be in place for an agreement with Iran to successfully rein in its nuclear program, Agence France-Presse reported. “France is in favor of an interim agreement but on the basis of four points,” AFP quoted him as saying at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

Soft on the outside, hard on the inside. That may be the best way to describe the often startling contrast between Iran's current foreign and domestic policies. Since taking office in August, President Hassan Rohani has won widespread praise for showing greater flexibility in nuclear talks with the international community.

On most days, Emanuel Shfaim, 45, works from morning til night at his dry cleaning business, often joined by his wife, Nava. They are well known in the neighborhood, Jerusalem's German Colony, for the excellence and variety of their services. Need a sheepskin ottoman cleaned after an unfortunate collision with a glass of red wine? Shfaim will find a way to make the stain disappear.

President Barack Obama has decided to test whether Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s “charm offensive” is a legitimate effort to reach an agreement on a more constricted and transparent Iranian nuclear program. With this decision, he embarks on the most transformative and important diplomatic initiative of his presidency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will warn President Barack Obama in White House talks on Monday that Iran's diplomatic “sweet talk” cannot be trusted and will urge him to keep up the pressure to prevent Tehran from being able to make a nuclear bomb.

Signaling a possible thaw in long-frozen relations, the Obama administration and the new leadership in Iran are communicating about Syria and are moving behind the scenes toward direct talks that both governments hope can ease the escalating confrontation over Tehran's nuclear program.