The debate on whether to invite Iran to the conference or not reflects the fact that Syria is not the only issue here. In terms of a Syria settlement, it is absurd to demand that a country that has so much influence on the situation in Syria should not be invited to the talks. In that case there is not much point in holding the talks in the first place. In reality of course this is not about Syria, but about U.S.-Iranian relations. President Barack Obama’s administration's attempt to introduce a new quality to these relations has been met with resistance both inside the U.S. and, of course, among America's allies in the Middle East. Although the benefits of finding a way out of a stalemate of many years would be great, mutual trust is extremely low and Washington is very much afraid of making a mistake.