An Iranian news agency reported that the American envoy to Istanbul meeting asked for a bilateral meeting with the Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

The American delegation, headed by Under-Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, was interested in having some face-to-face dialogue with their Iranian counterparts.

Some diplomats, who took part in the talks, confirmed that Sherman expressed her desire to have a direct talks with Jalili.

This message was passed to the Iranians by the EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

The personality of Sherman is an interesting and may help understand the American approach to Iran. She was born in 1949. She attended Smith College for two years from 1967 to 1969 and obtained her degree from Boston University in 1971. Five years later she got her Master degree in social work from University of Maryland. She worked in both the government and nonprofit organizations. She directed the campaign for the Democratic National Committee in 1988. From 1993 to 1996, she served as assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs.

She had a good record in negotiations. She led a successful effort to get the funding for the newly independent states after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and support for the Dayton accords. In September 2011, she was appointed by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in her current post.

All along, Sherman believes in the power of direct negotiations to affect the desired outcome. In line with this thinking, she was seeking a one-on-one meeting hoping to convey the desired message and get what her country has been asking for quite long time.

The Istanbul meeting came amid a volatile environment in which Israel made it perfectly clear that it would rather risk a war than living under the shadow of Iranian nuclear weapon.

Sherman hoped to convey this message to her Iranian counterpart. Like the rest of the American administration, Sherman believes in the power of conveying message directly. As one of the most trusted and indeed influential figure in the State Department, Clinton asked her to head the American delegation to send a clear message to Tehran that Washington means business.

It seems that the American Administration has send back to back messages to the Iranians to show the American interest in getting over the difference and in improving the relationship. This was exactly the essence of a message from President Barack Obama to Iran’s Supreme leader Khamenei and delivered by the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on March 29.

Therefore, she hoped to make it clear to the Iranian that the relationship between the two countries should not deteriorate further.

Sources say that the Turkish prime minister had told Khamenei that statements from Iran crediting Obama’s new tone would be welcomed. Khamenei welcomed a month ago a statement made by Obama “for pushing forward diplomacy and not war as a solution to Tehran’s nuclear ambition.”

On the other hand, Iran is feeling the heat of the sanctions and international isolation. A positive dialogue with the United States can help improve the image of the Iranian regime while give Iran extra time needed to complete its controversial nuclear program. Jalili was quoted as saying that his country was ready “to seriously engage on the Iranian nuclear issue.”

Israelis as well as Europeans were equally surprised by the American selection of Sherman to head the American delegation to the talks in Istanbul. Neither she nor anyone in her delegations has a profound expertise in Iran’s nuclear program.

The selection of Sherman raised some concerns among American allies and Israel about the prospects of the Istanbul talks.

Despite the American flirt with the Iranians and the latter’s rejection of a meeting, this round of talks was far from success. All they agreed on was to reconvene talks next month.

All the Iranians were interested in was get an American and European pledge not to carry out a military strike as long as talks continue.

It is true that the meeting was held in positive atmosphere, as Michael Mann, the spokesman for European Union foreign policy Ashton said, yet the expectations for success were never high in the first place. That said, this round of talks was held with no preconditions. Prior to that, the Iranians stipulated the lift of the sanctions.

This time around the United States refused to discuss removing sanctions if the Iranians fail to stop nuclear fuel enrichment operations. The Turkish prime minister said that there was a sense that Iran was ready to give up on uranium enrichment at a level of 20 percent but only for a short period.