Did Tony Blair have anything to do with America's so called 'shift in policy' towrards Iran? Two weeks ago Mr Bush responded to Kofi Annans' call for dialogue between Washington and Terhan by saying that he did not want to get "sucked into endless dialogue". To many in the outside world it seemed clear that Mr Bush did not want to engage in ANY dialogue. It is likely that, during discussions last week, Tony Blair stressed that in order for military action against Iran to seem legitimate, it was necessary to be seen to have made every effort at dialogue. However, by stating that there can be no negotiation over the legitimacy of Iran's civilian nuclear programme, Washington knows that any talks with Iran are destined to fail. Just as with the build up to war in Iraq, the White House and Downing Street are talking almost exclusively of diplomacy without engaging in it at all.