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Iran

On a Search for a New European Policy towards Tehran Exploring the Societal Approach

01.02.2024 - 03.02.2024

Thema

During the last year it was often discussed that European policy towards Iran is in need of reorientation. The revolutionary uprising against the radical Islamic regime, spearheaded by young women and girls, has profoundly changed the situation, and has increased the need to rethink Europe’s approach towards Tehran. The war between Hamas and Israel and particularly its consequences for the region provided further impetus for a new approach towards Theran. But what form could a new European Iran strategy take?

With this workshop we will bring together experts from across Europe and different fields related to Iranian policy to elaborate on key questions of the future development of the European Iran policy. Particularly, we aim to search for ways and means to improve the empowerment of the Iranian society – within the country and in the diaspora alike.

Medien

„Drei Fragen an …“ Susanne Koelbl zur Situation im Iran und zur deutschen Außenpolitik gegenüber Teheran. Frau Koelbl ist Auslandskorrespondentin des Nachrichtenmagazins DER SPIEGEL in Hamburg. Sie stellte sich unseren Fragen am 01. Februar 2024.

Programm

Donnerstag, 01.02.2024
14:00 Uhr
Words of Welcome

Thomas MÜLLER-FÄRBER, Program Director International Affairs, Protestant Academy Loccum

14:05 Uhr
Get to know each other

What brought us here? What do we wish will happen/not happen during the conference?

14:30 Uhr
Does Europe Need a New Orientation in its Iran Policy? How It May Look Like? (With a Special Focus on the Societal Dimension)

Sanaz AZIMIPOUR, Author, Activist and Co-Founder of Women* Life Freedom Collective, Berlin (confirmed)
Cornelius ADEBAHR, Nonresident Fellow, Carnegie Europe, Brussels (confirmed)
Gregory BLEDJIAN, Head, Middle East Unit (Ref. 311), German Foreign Office, Berlin (confirmed)
Azadeh ZAMIRIRAD, Deputy Head, Africa and Middle East Research Division, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Berlin (confirmed)

15:30 Uhr
Coffee and Cake

16:00 Uhr
Discussion continues

16:45 Uhr
Coffee and Tea Break

17:00 Uhr
Resistance, Repression, and Socio-Economic Depression – How is the Society in Iran?

Raha BAHREINI, Iran Researcher and Human Rights Lawyers, Amnesty International, London (confirmed)
Azadeh KIAN, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Gender and Feminist Studies (CEDREF), Université Paris Cité (confirmed)
Sussan TAHMASEBI, Executive Director of FEMENA, Washington D.C. (confirmed)

18:30 Uhr
Dinner

19:30 Uhr
Militarized, De-republicanized, and in the Middle of a Fragile Elite Transition: How is the Iranian Regime?

Susanne KOELBL, Foreign Correspondent, DER SPIEGEL, Hamburg (confirmed)
Rouzbeh PARSI, Head, Middle East and North Africa Program, Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI), and Affiliated Researcher at Human Rights Studies, Lund University, Stockholm (confirmed)

21:00 Uhr
Informal Get Together at the Gallery

Freitag, 02.02.2024
08:30 Uhr
Breakfast

09:30 Uhr
Solidary and United – or Still Divided? How is the Iranian Diaspora?

Shirin ASSA, Researcher, “MENA Women* in Diaspora”, University Bayreuth (confirmed)

11:00 Uhr
Coffee and Tea Break

11:15 Uhr
What Do Scientists Know About Successful Diaspora Politics and Revolutionary Movements?

Fiona ADAMSON, Professor of International Relations, Center for Migration and Diaspora Studies, SOAS University London (confirmed)
Tareq SYDIQ, Research Fellow, BMBF-Project "Postcolonial Hierarchies in Peace & Conflict", University Marburg (confirmed)

12:30 Uhr
Lunch

13:30 Uhr
Sightseeing Tour to the Monastery Loccum (founded 1163)

15:00 Uhr
Coffee & Tea

15:30 Uhr
Idea Workshop

On a Search for a Societal Iran Approach – How to Empower Society in Iran and Diaspora alike? (in parallel sessions

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Forum 1: Stabilizing and Organizing Activities in Exile

Maike DIDERO, Programme Director, Division: Phillipp Schwartz Initiative and Academic Freedom and Division: Africa and the Middle East, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn (confirmed)
Elaheh KOUHESTANI, Legal Scholar, Expert in Migration and Transitional Law, and Member of the Berlin’s Women*, Life, Freedom Collective, Berlin (confirmed)
Christian HÜLSHÖRSTER, Head of Division: Scholarships Southern Hemisphere, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Berlin (confirmed)

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Forum 2: Building Bridges and Forums within the Diaspora

Barbara MITTELHAMMER, Independent Political Scientist and Consultant focusing on Feminist Foreign Policy and the Iranian Civil Society, Berlin/Brussels (confirmed)

16:45 Uhr
Coffee & Tea

17:00 Uhr
Idea Workshop continues

-
Forum 3: Awareness Raising and Agenda Setting in European Discourse

Bauke BAUMANN, Policy Advisor, Near and Middle East, Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, Berlin (confirmed)

-
Forum 4: Supporting the Iranian Society within Iran and in the Region

Felix FEHLING, Iran Cooperation Officer, Middle East/Central Asia Unit (C.1), Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA), European Commission, Brussels (confirmed)
Lena ROHRBACH, Amnesty International Deutschland, Berlin (confirmed)

18:30 Uhr
Dinner

19:30 Uhr
Idea Kitchen: Parallel Writing Workshops: Trying to Pen the Key Results of Forums and Policy Recommendations

Forum 1 (“Stabilizing and Organizing Exile Activities”)

Forum 2 („Building Bridges and Forums within the Diaspora”)

Forum 3 („Awareness Raising and Agenda Setting in Europe”)

Forum 4 („Supporting the Iranian Society within Iran and in the Region”)

21:00 Uhr
Informal Get Together at the Gallery

Samstag, 03.02.2024
08:30 Uhr
Breakfast

09:30 Uhr
Presenting and Discussing Workshop Findings

10:30 Uhr
Coffee and Tea Break

10:45 Uhr
CONCLUDING SESSION: Nukes, Sanctions, and the Region – How to Connect the Societal Approach with Other Pillars of the European Iran Policy?

Alice AMORIELLO, Deputy Head of the Unit for Iran and Gulf Countries at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Rome (confirmed)
Rocco ROMANO, Deputy Head, Iran Unit (Pol-2), European External Action Service, Brussels (confirmed)
Farzan SABET, Research Associate of the Sanctions and Sustainable Peace Hub, Geneva Institute, Geneva (confirmed)
Soli SHAHVAR, Founding Director of the Ezri Center for Iran & Persian Gulf Studies and Professor at the University of Haifa (confirmed)

12:20 Uhr
Wrap up and Words of Farewell

Thomas MÜLLER-FÄRBER, Program Director International Affairs, Protestant Academy Loccum

12:30 Uhr
Lunch

12:50 Uhr
Bus Shuttle to Wunstorf station