Imagine a country sliding into deep economic turmoil (plagued by rising unemployment, declining home ownership), saddled with an unpopular president who’s beholden to religious conservatives, and whose harsh and provocative rhetoric has alienated the nation from the rest of the world and damaged its reputation. A country in desperate need of regime change. No, I’m not talking about America (circa October 2008). I am referring to Iran, present day.

A little more than a week ago, Mohammad Khatami, a former president of Iran, declared his intentions to run against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the upcoming June election. The former president, long considered a moderate, has governed and is campaigning on a platform of fewer cultural/social restrictions within Iranian society, a position which has earned him the support of younger generations of Iranians as well as more moderate voters. Even more significantly, Khatami has called for dialogue with the West on a variety of issues and is advocating diplomacy as the cornerstone of his foreign policy.

During the Bush Error, this country’s foreign policy temperament kind of reminded me of that scene from “Thank You For Smoking,” in which the gun company lobbyist, seated in a diner with his fellow alcohol and tobacco lobbyists, shovels several forkfuls of apple pie smothered with multiple layers of melted American cheese into his mouth. As strands of Velveeta and clumps of apple bits cling crudely to his lips, his colleague remarks: “That’s disgusting!” “It’s American,” he replied, with a roguish wink.

Yet the election of President Obama gives me great hope, as his platform as a candidate included a reasoned and civil dialogue with other nations, signifying an end to our Rambo-style foreign policy. On Nov. 4, 2008, change came to America. On June 12, 2009, hopefully change will come to Iran.