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Today is Nowruz — New Year’s day in the Persian world. And at midnight last night, the president released a brief video — subtitled in Farsi — wishing Iranians everywhere a happy New Year. The underlying reason for the video was diplomacy; Obama challenged Iran to engage in peaceful dialogue with the U.S. “This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect,” he said.

I have no idea what kind of impact the video will have. In all likelihood it will be forgotten in a few months. But the simple act of creating it amazes me. There are countless examples of how different this administration is from the last. But I can’t think of one that feels as radically divergent as this.

As Ezra Klien pointed out, “It is hard to believe that five years after we were ordering “freedom fries” in the congressional cafeteria, we’re posting Persian translations at Whitehouse.gov.”

Watch the video. Watch the video with Farsi subtitles. Read the transcript. Download the Farsi version of the transcript.

An excerpt:

So in this season of new beginnings I would like to speak clearly to Iran’s leaders. We have serious differences that have grown over time. My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community. This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.

You, too, have a choice. The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations. You have that right — but it comes with real responsibilities, and that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization. And the measure of that greatness is not the capacity to destroy, it is your demonstrated ability to build and create.

So on the occasion of your New Year, I want you, the people and leaders of Iran, to understand the future that we seek. It’s a future with renewed exchanges among our people, and greater opportunities for partnership and commerce. It’s a future where the old divisions are overcome, where you and all of your neighbors and the wider world can live in greater security and greater peace.

I know that this won’t be reached easily. There are those who insist that we be defined by our differences. But let us remember the words that were written by the poet Saadi, so many years ago: “The children of Adam are limbs to each other, having been created of one essence.”