This weekend is all about Christmas and its aftermath in many parts of the world, but in the lands of Shia Islam, this is the time of Ashura.
Ashura falls tomorrow, and is a day of mourning for the death of Hussein Ali, grandson of Mohammed, in the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD. For Shia believers, it is a time of remorse, remembrance, penitence and, for some, literally self-flagellation to feel Hussein's pain.
The world's largest Shia country is, of course, Iran, on which the eyes of policy-makers will be fixed in 2010.
Early in his term, U.S. President Barack Obama extended an olive branch to Iran, saying he wanted to talk directly to that country. Engagement with enemies or difficult countries, after all, was among Mr. Obama's hallmarks while campaigning for the White House.
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