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The National Iranian American Council's conference -- held at 902 Hart Senate Office Building and featuring a panel discussion that presented a Joint Experts' Statement on Iran as well as special addresses by Chairman John Tierney (D-MA) and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), and a keynote address by Chairman Thomas Carper (D-DE) -- drew more than 250 participants representing accredited media, congressional members and staff, as well as government and academia. Ambassador James Dobbins spoke on the expert panel, alongside Dr. Farideh Farhi from the University of Hawaii and Joseph Cirincione, President of the Ploughshares Fund.

"It is worth pausing to remember that when President George W. Bush came to office in January 2001, Iran was not a nuclear power state. When President Bush leaves office in 63 days, Iran will be much closer to acquiring the capacity either to assemble nuclear weapons or build a break-out capability," said Chairman Thomas Carper (D-DE) in his keynote address. "For this reason alone, it is increasingly clear that current policies are not preventing a nuclear Iran."

"Dialogue was my point of view long before Obama became President. I have long believed dialogue is indispensable," said Senator Specter. "How can we have preconditions before the negotiations?"

Chairman Tierney pointed out that "hard-nosed diplomacy has been effective in solving seemingly intractable problems". He went on to quote the "Joint Experts' Statement on Iran" by saying, "Long-standing diplomatic practice makes clear that talking directly to a foreign government in no way signals approval of the government, its policies or its actions."

"Dialogue doesn't always lead to agreement, but it does lead to more information to make more informed decisions," said Ambassador Dobbins.

Farhi commented that dialogue in and of itself is not enough. There must be political will to go all the way. "If there is no prior commitment to improve the relationship - even unconditional talks will lead to a breakdown," said Dr. Farhi.

Cirincione stated that having open dialogue with our adversaries is a normal policy. "The position that we would not talk to them was the one that was outside the mainstream."

The Joint Experts' Statement on Iran offered the following five principles for the U.S. to deal successfully with Iran.

1. Replace calls for regime change with a long-term strategy.
2. Support human rights through effective international means.
3. Allow Iran a place at the table - alongside other key states - in shaping the future of Iraq, Afghanistan and the region.
4. Address the nuclear issue within the context of a broader U.S.-Iran opening.
5. Re-energize the Arab-Israeli peace process and act as an honest broker in that process.

The experts behind the statement were convened by the American Foreign Policy Project, ICAN, 3D Security, and Just Foreign Policy. In addition to the their recommendations the experts laid out a comprehensive outline of eight key misconceptions about Iran that have driven U.S. policy in the wrong direction and should be addressed by the new Administration in an effort to advance U.S. interests. Senator Specter finished his remarks regarding direct diplomacy with Iran by saying, "We are ready, willing and able, and I think it's going to happen."

Senator Carper concluded the event by saying, "Sometimes even our best efforts do not work. That may be the case with Iran. But, I strongly believe that before we reach that conclusion, we must give serious diplomacy our very best try."