U.S. President Barack Obama has once again appealed directly to Iranian people over the BBC Persian service on Friday, in a rare showcase of technology surpassing the boundaries of official communication channels.

President Obama reminded Iranian people that US-led sanctions were the result of hasty and irresponsible decisions made by the Iranian government but promised better relations if the present regime is replaced by a friendly government in Tehran.

The sanctions against Iran were approved by the U.N. Security Council in June for its failure to comply with demands to halt its uranium enrichment program.

However, ruling out war as the solution, he said: "I think what people should remember is that I don't take war lightly... I was opposed to the war in Iraq. I am somebody who's interested in resolving issues diplomatically."

And his efforts to appeal to the people of Iran are, in fact, part of a new strategy aimed at winning the confidence of people and roll out a new diplomacy aided by technology.

Last time President Obama sent his best wishes to Iranian citizens directly through his YouTube ID on Nowruz in early 2009, setting in motion a new tech diplomacy that was instrumental in his electioneering as well.

Is diplomacy taking recourse to technology to address major issues? Essentially, technology has paved the way to a broderless direct communication replacing the centuries-old diplomatic channels used to convey such messages.

"What's different here isn't the goals or the objectives of American foreign policy, but it's the world we live in that's changed," says Sam DuPont, policy analyst at NDN and the New Policy Institute, New York. "We now have a global network that pretty much connects almost everybody on Earth."

Ever since Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a new initiative in June that she called "21st century statecraft", the technology-driven diplomacy is subtly taking roots by widening the global network of people across borders, says DuPont.

Otherwise, technology has made inroads where governments have failed to make a mark. Natural calamities, unlike in the past, brought forth an era of instant cross-border help without an official nod.

Haiti quake raised funds from mobile phone users in neighboring nations, while floods in Pakistan drew the global attention before the government stepped in to carry out rescue operations. A small message on social networking like Twitter or Facebook can change the course of events now.

Though the technology is fast-moving, many governments have failed to match the speed for change, forcing US futurologist Alvin Toffler to say there is a "mismatch" between the two, in his 2006 publication "Revolutionary Wealth".

If Obama succeeds to bridge the gap with people in countries like Iran, North Korea and Myanmar, than merely resorting to imposition of sanctions, then his contribution to the global peace would really be overwhelming.

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