(JNS.org) The U.S. and Iran have “moved into an effective state of detente over the past year,” The Wall Street Journal reported last week. The report, citing senior U.S. and Arab officials, said, “Recent months have ushered in a change as the two countries have grown into alignment on a spectrum of causes, chief among them promoting peaceful political transitions in Baghdad and Kabul and pursuing military operations against Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.” According to the report, improved American-Iranian relations “could drastically alter the balance of power in the region and risks alienating key U.S. allies,” such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel. The report said the Obama administration has also “markedly softened its confrontational stance toward Iran’s most important non-state allies” — the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups. During the Israel-Hamas war last summer, U.S. diplomats negotiated with Hamas leaders via Turkish and Qatari intermediaries.