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Past Event
Special Series

And Then What? Imagining the Middle East if Nuclear Negotiations with Iran Fail

Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

As nuclear negotiations with Iran go into their second year, and the US congress considers a new sanctions bill, the chances of reaching a comprehensive settlement are highly uncertain. The number of regional and global actors with stakes in Iran’s nuclear trajectory means that a failure of negotiations would have far-reaching consequences. Different scenarios leading to the breakdown of talks could produce distinct pathways for the aftermath of diplomatic failure. In particular, whether or not negotiations end with the P5+1 united or divided will affect the prospects of further multilateral sanctions, as well as the behavior of Iran and its regional rivals.  The panel will examine these scenarios, and consider the consequences of a collapse of the negotiations for Iran’s nuclear policy, for regional politics and security, and for relations among the P5+1.

Date: Time: - Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369
Catherine Ashton, P5+1 and Iran foreign ministers in Geneva negotiators

About

As nuclear negotiations with Iran go into their second year, and the US congress considers a new sanctions bill, the chances of reaching a comprehensive settlement are highly uncertain. The number of regional and global actors with stakes in Iran’s nuclear trajectory means that a failure of negotiations would have far-reaching consequences. Different scenarios leading to the breakdown of talks could produce distinct pathways for the aftermath of diplomatic failure. In particular, whether or not negotiations end with the P5+1 united or divided will affect the prospects of further multilateral sanctions, as well as the behavior of Iran and its regional rivals.  The panel will examine these scenarios, and consider the consequences of a collapse of the negotiations for Iran’s nuclear policy, for regional politics and security, and for relations among the P5+1.

Speakers:

  • Gary Samore, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
  • Shai Feldman, Judith and Sidney Swartz Director of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies and Professor of Politics at Brandeis University
  • Alexei Arbatov, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace & Center for International Security at the Institute of World Economy and Internaton Relations
  • Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Research Scholar, Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University

Payam Mohseni, Director of the Iran Project, will chair the event.

    Lunch will be provided, but seating will only be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.