It comes after some other moves, of course: his visit to Turkey, his message to Iran, the Nowrouz message.
VOA: standard.2009.05.09
Novruz, Nowrouz, Nooruz, Navruz, Nauroz or Nevruz marks the New Year and the beginning of spring across a vast geographical area covering, inter alia, Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.