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President Obama's offer of direct diplomacy evidently has produced no change in the stance taken by Iran during the George W. Bush administration, when Tehran proposed discussing everything from stability in the Balkans to the development of Latin America with the United States and its allies -- but refused to consider even a temporary shutdown of its centrifuges. Two letters dispatched by the White House to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, received no meaningful response. While Mr. Ahmadinejad would be happy to share a stage with Mr. Obama -- he proposed a debate before the world's media during his upcoming visit to the United Nations -- he made clear at his latest news conference that his regime is far more concerned with its continuing power struggle with domestic opponents. "From our point of view, Iran's nuclear issue is over," he said.