As the transition in the United States between the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama is moving forward feverishly while world crises escalate, observers of conflicts are focusing on the messages emanating from the next foreign policy team in Washington.

The election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States was greeted with elation around the world with crowds taking to the streets to express their joy from Washington, D.C. to Nairobi. Congratulatory messages to the new president came pouring in from world leaders and from some rather unexpected sources as well.

AMMAN -- The George W. Bush administration will establish the first official U.S. diplomatic presence in Tehran before it leaves office, according to reports published last week.

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami recently hinted a possible return to the national scene, but many are questioning the relevance of this comeback and how it could affect the quest for reform and Tehrans nuclear crisis with the international community.

JERUSALEM -- In an upping of the tit for tat rhetoric between Tel Aviv and Tehran, several senior Iranian officials have recommended a pre-emptive strike on Israel in order to neutralize any Israeli attempt to bomb the Islamic republics alleged nuclear facilities.

The pressures for both the U.S. and Israel to attack Irans nuclear facilities have received an additional impetus from two recent House and Senate resolutions. According to William O. Beeman, professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, there is tremendous danger in two almost identical resolutions in the House and Senate calling upon U.S. President George W. Bush to "immediately and dramatically increase the economic, political and diplomatic pressure on Iran to verifiably suspend its nuclear enrichment activities."

It is quite understandable that Israel would be deeply disappointed by Turkeys decision to invite Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for an official visit. In Israels view, such a visit will only further legitimize a leader who is reviled for his denial of the Holocaust and for his repeated existential threats to the state of Israel. The question, however, should not be how much legitimacy Ahmadinejad may garner from this visit, but whether Turkish officials could potentially engender something positive out of this foray that could benefit not only Turkey but the entire region, including Israel.

Irans nuclear ambition is not only about national pride and confrontation with the West. First and foremost it is a race for power and influence between two generations and two competing trends within Iranian politics.

On his way back from the inconclusive Geneva talks between Tehran and the Iran Six over the disputed Iranian nuclear program, Tehrans chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili stopped in Ankara and held talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babajan.

Iranian missile tests sent shock waves across the Middle East this past week, with the clerical regimes spokesmen leaving no doubt the demonstration was aimed squarely at Israel. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneis representative to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Ali Shirazi, threatened to "burn" Tel Aviv while IRGC Commander Mohammed Ali-Jafaris comments took aim directly at Israels nuclear facilities at Dimona.