While President Obama refuses to negotiate with House Republicans over the budget and debt ceiling, saying that he won't talk with people who are threatening to harm the country, talks with Iran over ending its nuclear program seem to be progressing.

In the most recent development, the Iranian Parliament has expressed overwhelming support of its new president's diplomatic outreach to the United States and the West. According to Iran's Fars news agency, the parliamentary statement of support congratulated President Hassan Rouhani for projecting an image of "powerful and peace-seeking Iran which seeks talks and interaction for the settlement of regional and international issues."

That doesn't mean there aren't hard-liners in Iran who would still prefer to scuttle the talks. We have them too. But it means that at the moment, the hard-liners aren't in control and there's a chance of resolving this major problem without further bloodshed and economic disruption.

In Syria, where events also continue to progress better than any rational person has a right to expect, President Obama frankly appeared to get lucky. In Iran, recent events suggest a long-term plan may be paying off. Since the earliest days of his presidency, and even in his first campaign, Obama has advocated dropping the Bush administration's drive for regime change while trying to force Iran to the table with ever-tighter economic sanctions. At the time, he was harshly criticized as naive, especially for his statement that he would be open to high-level talks without preconditions. Now that those talks are occurring -- his phone call with Rouhani was the first such contact with an Iranian head of state since 1979 -- you don't hear that criticism being repeated.

However this turns out, there's no doubt that the Obama approach has had an effect. The Iranian government relies on oil sales for 80 percent of its revenues, and sanctions have cut its oil exports in half. Inflation in Iran is running at 40 percent, the rial has lost half of its value against the dollar just since late July, and Iran has effectively been cut off from the global banking system, unable to borrow or transfer funds. Its economy is on the verge of collapse. The election of the more moderate Rouhani is one important symptom of those difficulties; his outreach to the West is another.

In a typically bluster-filled speech to the United Nations this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the world that Rouhani was simply playing for time, trying to win an easing of sanctions without actually ending Iran's nuclear-weapons program. Such skepticism is well-founded, and White House spokesman Jay Carney validated it. "It is entirely justifiable that Israel is skeptical about Iran and Iran’s intentions,” he said. “After all, this is a country whose leadership, until recently, was pledging to annihilate Israel.”

On the other hand, Rouhani has spoken of resolving -- not merely addressing, but resolving -- the problem within three months to six months. That does not sound like a man playing for time. That sounds like a man motivated to make a deal, and quickly.

Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies summarizes the situation well, calling it a last chance at a peaceful solution for almost everybody involved:

" ... this is almost certainly the last chance for a real solution before Iran moves to the point of no return both politically and in terms of nuclear capability. Iranian politics virtually ensure that if (Rouhani) ’s first attempt to negotiate fails, there will not be a second....

It is the last chance before Israel must choose between preventive attacks and upgrading its nuclear strike capability to ensure it can achieve decisive nuclear superiority or at least mutually assured destruction. It is the last chance for the United States to choose between far larger preventive strikes and a far stronger form of containment, making good on Secretary Clinton’s offer of “extended deterrence.” It is the last chance between the Arab Gulf states not only to work with the United States to ensure containment but to consider their own nuclear options.

The alternatives are either a war of preventive strikes that may prove all too difficult to control, or a nuclear arms race in the Gulf that is almost certain to go far beyond a limited Iranian breakout capability."

In short, by following a policy of patience and a steady ratcheting-up of pressure, Obama may have forced Iran to finally sideline its extremists, drop its unreasonable demands and expectations and participate in talks as a reasonable negotiating partner. Yup, sounds like a plan.