While much has been said about President Skorton’s recent visit to Iran last November, another Cornell-Iran connection has gone largely unnoticed: Prof. Jon Weiss’ class, History 2161: Iran and the World. The class is exceptional in that it allows students to interact with Iranians, and therefore learn about world conflicts in a direct and engaging way. However, such a course should not be unusual; to best educate Cornellians, the University should develop additional classes whereby students can obtain first-hand perspectives and knowledge about other cultures.

Rarely does the scope of a class extend beyond its required reading or the duration of a semester. For students in Prof. John Weiss’s, history, class, however, th curicullum serves as a springboard for more far-reaching global aims.

The goal of History 2161: Iran and the World is to foster relations between Cornell students and Iranians through dialogue at a time when relations between the U.S. and Iran are volatile and fears of a nuclear-armed Iran are growing.

Class periods often include speakerphone interviews with leading Middle East policy experts and students are assigned to establish contact with Iranians. Furthermore, many students who have taken the class remain committed to working on the project even after the semester has ended.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Barack Obama’s administration will engage in “direct diplomacy” with Iran, the newly installed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said yesterday.

Not since before the 1979 Iranian revolution are U.S. officials believed to have conducted wide-ranging direct diplomacy with Iranian officials. But U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice warned that Iran must meet U.N. Security Council demands to suspend uranium enrichment before any talks on its nuclear program.

My recent trip to Iran as part of an academic delegation has confirmed my belief that while tensions abound in our world, “people-to-people” exchange is ever more important.

Our world is polarized along lines drawn by our race, ethnicity, religious convictions, politics, gender, sexual orientation and many other attributes. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the current tensions defined by the intersection of the Judeo-Christian and Islamic worlds. The events of last week in India are just the most recent manifestations of these tensions. How to respond to this polarization?

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran test-fired more long-range missiles overnight in a second round of exercises meant to show that the country can defend itself against any attack by the U.S. or Israel, state television reported Thursday.

The weapons have "special capabilities" and included missiles launched from naval ships in the Persian Gulf, along with torpedoes and surface-to-surface missiles, the broadcast said. It did not elaborate.

A brief video clip showed two missiles being fired simultaneously in the darkness trailed by red plumes of fire and smoke.

The report came hours after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran that Washington will not back down in the face of threats against Israel.

SHAHR-E-KORD, Iran (AP) — Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called President Bush a "wicked man" Wednesday.

Addressing thousands of people in this central city, he said Bush had set out to damage Iran but failed to halt its nuclear program and would not succeed in his goal of attacking the Islamic republic.

"This wicked man desires to harm the Iranian nation. (Bush) made plans, moved into Afghanistan and then Iraq, and announced that Iran was the third target," Ahmadinejad said.

"I tell him ... your era has come to an end. With the grace of God, you won't be able to harm even one centimeter of the sacred land of Iran."

KRANJ, Slovenia (AP) — President Bush and European allies on Tuesday threatened tougher sanctions to squeeze Iran's finances and derail its potential pursuit of a nuclear weapon. Bush said the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran would endanger world peace.

"They can either face isolation, or they can have better relations with all of us," Bush said of Iran's leaders while capping his final European Union-U.S. summit.

The president and EU leaders embraced new financial sanctions against Iran unless it verifiably suspends its nuclear enrichment. They said Iran must fully disclose any nuclear weapons work and allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to verify that work.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged Monday to negotiate with Iran on behalf of the international community in their nuclear standoff, although he didn't come to Tehran as scheduled amid warnings of a possible assassination plot.

Putin's planned trip, the first here by a Kremlin leader since World War II, raised hopes that personal diplomacy could find a solution to the impasse over the Iranian nuclear program, but he delayed his arrival, which had been set for Monday evening.

WIESBADEN, Germany (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted Monday that he would travel to Iran despite reports about a possible assassination attempt, saying if he paid attention to all the threats against him "I would never leave home."

Russia's Interfax news agency, citing a source in Russia's intelligence services, said Sunday that suicide terrorists had been trained to carry out the assassination in Iran. The Kremlin said Putin was informed about the threat.

But the Russia president said his trip was planned long in advance and that he would talk with Iranian leaders about their disputed nuclear program, although he stressed the original purpose of the trip was to discuss issues affecting states bordering on the Caspian Sea.