Iran Working Group

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Iran Policy Forum News

U.S.-Iran Relations
June 21, 2007

Suzanne Maloney, co-chair of the Iran Policy Forum, briefed Congress on the rising tensions in U.S.-Iran relations over Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The briefing was a part of the bipartisan Congressional briefing series sponsored by Congressmen Howard Berman (D-CA) and Chris Shays (R-CT).

USIP and PIPA Give Advance Briefing on Unprecedented In-Depth Poll of Iranians
January 16, 2007

During this meeting, USIP and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) conducted a briefing on new data from their survey of Iranian public opinion. This survey, fielded in conjunction with Search for Common Ground and an Iranian research agency, breaks much new ground and covers a wide array of international policy issues. Public opinion polling in Iran that is fully available to international audiences is rare. This survey is based on a nationally representative sample of 1,000 persons obtained through in-depth, in-person interviews, and the methods and questionnaire are fully documented. During this meeting, PIPA presented top-line results of this unique contribution to ongoing policy debates about Iran.

In coming months, USIP and PIPA will be authoring further analyses detailing the national regional findings of this survey on vital issues such as Iran’s nuclear program, attitudes toward the U.S. and international institutions such as the UN and the IAEA, among others.

The power point slides of this presentation are available here.

The survey methods are available for download here.

For information released by PIPA and Search for Common Ground, see www.WorldPublicOpinion.org.

On January 16, 2007 the United States Institute of Peace inaugurated its Iran Working Group, a collaboration of government and non-governmental experts that will meet regularly to discuss current issues relating to Iran.

To meet the need for a regular forum for government and non-government experts in Washington and abroad to convene regularly to exchange views and explore policy options in a private, non-partisan setting, USIP created the Iran Policy Forum in 2007. Four meetings were held in FY 07. In FY 08, USIP collaborated with Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution to reframe the Iran Policy Forum into the Iran Working Group. Thus far in 2008, USIP and Brookings have collaborated on three working group meetings, focusing on Iran’s April parliamentary elections (with meetings both before and after the election itself) and the role of youth in Iran. All three meetings were well attended by noted experts and policymakers on Iran.

In FY 09, USIP and Brookings will continue their collaboration and co-host six to eight working group sessions. The Brookings Saban Center will continue to host the meetings, and USIP will assist with logistics. The working group meetings will focus on examining concrete policy options for the incoming US presidential administration; Iran’s internal politics, including the scheduled 2009 presidential elections; Iranian social and cultural dynamics; economic conditions and policies; and Iran’s relationship with the international community.

Goals

To increase the breadth and depth of knowledge about developments in Iran among the foreign policy community.
To facilitate interaction among Iran analysts and to build bridges between officials and experts
To develop proposals, ideas, and policy recommendations designed to prevent conflict between Iran and the U.S.