NIAC Conferences
Informing Policy Makers
NIAC holds major policy conferences on Capitol Hill to examine the most significant and timely issues facing the U.S. and Iran. We bring together the world’s foremost experts on Iranian politics, human rights, US-Iran relations, and nuclear weapons to answer the toughest questions that policy makers wrestle with everyday. All of this is part of NIAC’s continued mission to bring the Iranian-American perspective into the halls of power in Washington DC.
Here you will find information about our past and upcoming conferences, including videos, transcripts, and more.
2012 Leadership Conference
September 30 - October 2
Sanctions Briefing: Are Iran Sanctions Worse than Iraq?
Eric Ferrari, Washington-Based Sanctions Attorney and Expert
Justin Logan, Director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Cato Institute
Sanam Anderlini, International Civil society Action Network
U.S. and Iran: On the Path to War?
Farideh Farhi, University of Hawaii Scholar
Honorable Robert Hunter, Former US Ambassador to NATO
Honorable Thomas Pickering, Former Ambassador to Israel and Under
Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Panel Summary
The Iranian People's Quest for Democracy - The Role of the Diaspora
Maziar Bahari, Journalist and Filmmaker
Nazila Fathi, Former Tehran-based Journalist for the NY Times
Ramin Jahenbegloo, University of Toronto Professor, Author, Prominent Iran Scholar
Bijan Khajehpour, Political and Economic Analyst, and Chairman
of Atieh International
Panel Video
Reinventing the Wheel? What Iranian Americans Can Learn from other Communities
Tom
Dine, Executive Director of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee
James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute
Aram Suren
Hamparian, Executive
Director of the Armenian National Committee of America
Panel Summary;Panel Video
Videos
Highlight Video
Media Coverage
Antiwar.com; The American Conservative: The Guardian
The Day After Baghdad: Assessing the Iran Nuclear Talks
May 23, 2012
PJ Crowley, Former Assistant Secretary of State
Bijan Khajehpour, Political and Economic Analyst, and Chairman
of Atieh International
Aaron David Miller, Distinguished Scholar at Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars
George Perkovich, Director of the Nuclear Policy Program at
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Media Coverage
LinkTV
broadcast; Antiwar.com
The Iranian Nuclear Dilemma: Risk of an Iraq Sequel?
February 21, 2012
Hans Blix, Former Director General of the IAEA
Colin Kahl, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
for the Middle East
Robert Kelley, Former Chief Inspector for the IAEA in Iraq
Media Coverage
LinkTV broadcast; WSJ; IPS; Antiwar.com
2011 Leadership Conference
October 2 - 4
U.S.-Iran Relations: Opportunities and Set Backs from the
Washington insider’s
Perspective
John Limbert, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iran Ambassador
Ramin Asgard, VOA Persian News Network Director
Dr. Jim Walsh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Security Studies Program
Rouzbeh Parsi, European Union Institute for Security Studies
The Iranian American Experience: Overcoming Obstacles and
Celebrating Success
Erich Ferrari, Sanctions Attorney and Expert
Darius Shahinfar, Former Congressional Candidate
Reza Marashi, NIAC Research Director
The Impact of Sanctions on Iran, the U.S., and the Global Economy
Bijan Khajehpour, Managing Partner Atieh International
Robert Pape, Political Scientist University of Chicago
Lucian Pugliaresi,
President Energy Policy Research Foundation
Videos
Highlight Video
Alan Eyre Dinner Keynote Address
Media Coverage
IIP Digital: Voice of America
Answering the Iranian People’s Call for Human Rights
March 15, 2011
Congressional Remarks
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Panelists
Suzanne Nossel, Deputy
Assistant Secretary
Jonas Hafström, Swedish
Ambassador to U.S.
Nazila Fathi, Former Iran-Based New York Times correspondent and Fellow at the Nieman Foundation
Prof. Nader Hashemi, Assistant Professor and Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the Josef Korbel School of
International Studies
Alireza Nader, RAND International Policy Analyst
Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch MENA division
Media Coverage
Yahoo
News: U.N. rights body votes to appoint Iran human rights monitor,
America.gov
Proposal at U.N. Body Puts Focus on Iran's Human Rights Record,
Ground
Report: Iran Says No to Human Rights Investigator;
State
Dept: Holding Iran Accountable for its Human Rights Record
Iran at a Crossroads: Assessing a Changing Landscape
March 10, 2010
Congressional Remarks
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Video of Congressional Remarks
|
A Century Old Struggle for Democracy Prof. Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, University of Maryland |
The US and Iran: Back to Confrontation? Prof. Juan Cole, University of Michigan |
The US & Iran: Human Rights, Diplomacy, & Sanctions
November 4, 2009
|
Human Rights and the Battle for Iran Prof. Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Syracuse University |
Assessing Obama’s Diplomacy Amb. John Limbert, US Naval Academy |
Conference Video; Conference Transcript
The US & Iran: Between Elections and Enrichment
June 17, 2009
Congressional Remarks
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY)
Rep. John Tierney (D-MA)
|
Reassessing Inspections and Verification Dr. David Kay, Former Weapons Inspector, Iraq |
A Conversation on the Iranian Elections Prof. Ali Akbar Mahdi, Ohio Wesleyan University |
Can Obama Untangle the Iranian Challenge?
Prospects for a New Iran Policy
November 18, 2008
Congressional Remarks
Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE)
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Rep. John Tierney (D-MA)
The Future of US-Iran Policy: An Agenda for Change
Amb. James Dobbins, Former Assistant Secretary of State
Dr. Farideh Farhi, University of Hawaii
Joseph Cirincione, The Ploughshares Fund
Breaking the US-Iran Stalemate
April 8, 2008
Congressional Remarks
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
|
New Majles, New Challenges Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor |
Beyond Zero Enrichment: Finding the Nuclear Fix
Dr. Hans Blix, Former Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency |
Human Rights In Iran and U.S. Policy Options
July 26, 2007
Congressional Remarks
Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA)
Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA)
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO)
Panelists
Alex Arriaga, Amnesty International
Joe Stork, Human Rights Watch
John Tirman, MIT
Laura Secor, The New Yorker
US-Iran Relations: Collision, Stand-off, or Convergence?
March 27, 2007
Congressional Remarks
Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA)
Panelists
Joseph Cirincione, Center for American Progress
Bruno Pellaud, Former Deputy Chief of Safeguards at the IAEA to Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Steve Clemons, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation
Francis Fukuyama, Johns Hopkins University
Flynt Leverett, Former National Security Council Official
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, General Colin Powell’s Chief of Staff
The Honorable Matthew Levitt, Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intelligence & Analysis
Daniel Levy, New America Foundation; former advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
