Tuesday, October 24, 7:00 PM EDT

Can Regional Dialogue and Diplomacy succeed where maximum pressure has failed?

This Webinar focuses on the implications for US policy in the Middle East of previously unthinkable agreements among the countries and stakeholders in the Gulf and Eastern Mediterranean which have been under discussion and are now being implemented in late 2023. The failure of punitive American maximum pressure policies has necessitated new approaches.

The recent arrangement that resulted in repatriation of American and Iranian prisoners and unfreezing of $6B in previously impounded Iranian oil revenue emerged from the good offices, mutual respect and trust nurtured through Arab intermediaries. Circumventing domestic hardline opposition in both DC and Tehran was critical to success. Is this arrangement a new opening for more direct regional dialogue is it a one-off? Could constructive openings lead to ending western maximum pressure and sanctions policies and in turn improved Iranian government treatment of women and their supporters?

As if these hardened Iran-phobic 45 years without diplomatic relations were not enough of a challenge, climate change driven environmental and economic crises portend declines of regional oil-based economies. They should also be incentives for new non-military-based relationships. Extreme heat and water shortages are shared existential threats that may either replace or exacerbate regional religious tensions and political power struggles. The strategies for pursuing peace and even survival may be about to change.

Speakers: John Limbert, Dylan Williams and Assal Rad

To register: Unprecedented connections - Iran, US, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Gulf region (everyaction.com)