Slightly lost among all the talk about Iraq and energy policy was George Bush's five mentions of Iran in his state of the union address.
There was nothing quite as flash as 2002's inclusion of Iran in an
"axis of evil", but the president did say the UN had "made it clear the world will not allow the regime in Tehran to
acquire nuclear weapons".
The other references to Iran revolved around what Mr Bush said was its support in Iraq and Lebanon of Shia extremists - who he said were just as bad as Sunni militants.
Some of Mr Bush's critics may be wondering how he could warn of a possible "contagion of violence" beyond Iraq's borders caused by Sunni/Shia sectarian conflict, given that there was little of this concern before the US-led invasion.
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, seemed to be sanguine about Mr Bush's speech, saying yesterday he did not expect a US attack on Iran because there were plenty of "wise people" in the US who would not let it happen.
A poll published by worldpublicopinion.com found that there was mutual suspicion between Iranian and US citizens - but it also showed they had similar attitudes to nuclear policy and fighting terrorism.
The poll found that almost six in 10 Iranians considered the threat of terror from extremist Islam important or critical, while more than nine out of 10 Americans felt that way.
On the nuclear issue, most Iranians supported their government's position but also thought Iran should obey the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The Americans said enrichment was OK for Iran, but only with thorough UN inspections.
However, it is unlikely that the distrust in the west over Iran's nuclear intentions will fade. Yesterday's Daily Telegraph led with a story claiming North Korea was helping Iran to carry out an underground test similar to one carried out in Pyongyang last year.
