Charlottesville forum: US, Iran, & Hope?

For those near Charlottesville, Virginia Sunday evening, consider joining a forum on US-Iran Relations that convenes at 6:00 p.m. at the Charlottesville Mennonite Church. (corner of Monticello Ave. and Avon Streets)
Hosted by Rev. Roy Hange, (who lived in Iran with his family earlier this decade) the forum features a panel of three Iran observers, Carah Ong, myself (Scott Harrop), and our venerable neighbor R.K. Ramazani.
Long time readers of Just World News will recall we have featured Professor Ramazani’s essays several times. Drawing from his 55 years (and counting) of scholarship and observations on US-Iran relations, I anticipate he will be focusing on the paradox of what divides and yet pulls together Iran and the United States, nearly 3 decades after the Iranian revolution.
Carah Ong is currently the Iran Policy Analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation. See her solid Iran focused blog, especially her coverage of Iran nuclear issues, Congress, and interesting reports of her recent journey to Iran.
Our prepared comments will consider our working question — what “reasons for hope” can we discern for improving ties between the US and Iran?
As a hook to the evening, see the Thursday night University of Georgia panel of five former American Secretaries of State, Powell, Albright, Kissinger, Baker, and even Christopher, and how they agreed on two points — that Gitmo needs to be shut down and that the US should be talking to Iran.
Fancy that. For the past seven years, the Bush Administration has been trapped by its own novel idea, at least towards Iran, that a state doesn’t talk to other states of which it disapproves, lest it somehow grant them “legitimacy” in the talking. Our current Secretary of State now claims she wishes to talk to Iran, even as she retains conditions widely known to short-circuit the process.
That five former Secretary of States appear to have repudiated that approach, at least to me, provides a significant ray of hope. That said, even If we at least can see the need to talk to Iran, questions remain not just about what to talk about, yet also how we should talk to Iran with any hope of a positive result
Learning “how to talk to Iran” will be the focus of my remarks. Stay tuned. (or better yet, join us live.)
Note: Charlottesville Mennonite Church is located just to the south east of the downtown mall. Here’s conventional directions on how to get to it: 701 Monticello Avenue.

7 thoughts on “Charlottesville forum: US, Iran, & Hope?”

  1. I apologize for being off point with my letter but I think that your readers would like to know that I have sent the following letter to National Public Radio this morning. If any of your readers also heard Dan Schorr’s outrageous statements this morning I urge them to write to NPR and make their displeasure known.
    “I listened in shock this morning as Dan Schorr told an outrageous lie about Iraq.
    He stated that the Mahdi army of Muqtada al-Sadr was supported by Iran and that
    America and the Maliki government were fighting them to prevent Iran’s influence in Iraq.
    The truth is exactly the reverse. It is the Maliki government and ISCI (Islamic
    Supreme Council of Iraq) which is and always has been supported by Iran.
    Muqtada al-Sadr is an Iraqi nativist who is struggling against Iranian influence on Iraq.
    The Americans are, chaotically, supporting exactly the party they claim they are
    fighting against. Dan’s lie is important because it buys into the Pentagon line that
    all the trouble in Iraq is caused by Iran and it irresponsibly supports the miscreants
    who wish to goad the United States into a war with Iran. I demand a retraction of Dan
    Schorr’s ill-informed and criminally negligent statement. It is no secret that Maliki
    and his party are supported by Iran; it’s been well known for years. It’s something that
    Dan Schorr would have known thirty years ago, when he was still a serious journalist.
    And by the way, Dan Schorr adds nothing to Weekend Edition. He’s neither a serious
    researcher nor a practicing journalist and his ill-informed contributions are either
    jokes or actively mischievous. Please retire him. I’m sick to death of having to
    listen to this doddering old fool every weekend.
    Sincerely Yours,
    Robert Howard Consol”

  2. Hi Robert. Seems to me you’re right on point with this observation. I’ll hunt for the Schorr NPR transcript and will post here.
    The issue you raise is yet another area where the US and Iran have a shared, if unstated, interest in seeing the Maliki government survive.
    Same for al-Qaeda “in Iraq.” Iran has absolutely every reason to see them defeated and checked — but the AEI crowd seems determined to find an Iranian fingerprint even there. (Even Joe Lieberman knew better when he corrected McCain)

  3. from wikipedia:
    The 2000 US Census estimated that 338,000 Iranian-Americans reside in the United States. . .the United States contains the highest number of Iranians in the world outside Iran not including a large and influential Iranian Zohrastrian community in India. The Iranian-American community has produced a sizable number of individuals notable in many fields, including medicine, engineering, and business.

  4. Seems to me you’re right on point with this observation.
    Hah, you kiding?
    Finally after five years you figure out?

  6. Thanks for the panel presentation last night. I appreciate the stimulating insights and the large amount of information.
    Thanks,
    Bob Spencer

  7. I don’t believe that Iran has just one dog in this race…Where is al-Sadr living now?

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