The virtual seminar will be held from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. (E.T.)
This seminar, based on a new book, will explore the conflicts between Iran and its Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia, and offer a comprehensive roadmap to overcoming this long-standing challenge to regional and world peace and security through a new collective regional security & cooperation framework. It assesses Iran’s relations with its Arab neighbors of the Persian Gulf from the 1940s to today, the grievances and disputes as perceived by all sides, and the role of geopolitics in shaping regional conflicts, especially the part played by the United States. The proposed roadmap begins with conversations between Iran and its Arab neighbors about their respective concerns and interests and acknowledgement of past errors and misjudgments and the harm that their policies have caused. The goal is to move through a stepwise reconciliation process to the eventual goal of a formal regional system that could be modeled on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
About the speaker: Seyed Hossein Mousavian is a scholar of Middle East security and nuclear policy with the Program on Science and Global Security. He is a former diplomat who served as Iran’s Ambassador to Germany (1990-1997), Head of the Foreign Relations Committee of Iran’s National Security Council (1997-2005), Spokesman for Iran in its nuclear negotiations with the international community (2003-2005), Foreign Policy Advisor to the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (2005-2007), Vice President of the Center for Strategic Research for International Affairs (2005-2009), General Director of Foreign Ministry for West Europe (1987-1990). Mousavian earned a PhD in international relations from the University of Kent, United Kingdom. His earlier books include “ A Middle East Free of Weapons of Mass Destruction: A New Approach to Nonproliferation” (2020); “Iran and the United States, An Insider’s View on the Failed Past and the Road to Peace” (2014): “The Iranian Nuclear Crisis, A Memoir” (2012); and, “Iran-Europe Relations: Challenges and Opportunities” (2008).