On April 8, 2015, the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations and the U.S.-GCC Corporate Cooperation Committee are hosting a public affairs briefing on “Assessing the Iran Nuclear Deal: Issues and Implications.” Featured specialists include:

• Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President and CEO, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, Member, U.S. Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy and Subcommittee on Sanctions, and Author,“Strategic Dynamics of Iran-GCC Relations”;
• H.E. Ambassador Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Associate Research Scholar, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, former Spokesman for Iran in nuclear negotiations with the European Union, and Author, Iran and the United States: An Insider’s View on the Failed Past and the Road to Peace;
• Dr. Thomas Mattair, Executive Director, Middle East Policy Council, and Author, The Three Occupied UAE Islands: The Tunbs and Abu Musa and Global Security Watch – Iran: A Reference Handbook;
• Dr. Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle East Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, and Author, CRS Report on “Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses”;
• Dr. Imad Harb, Distinguished International Affairs Fellow, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, and former Senior Researcher in Strategic Studies, Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and
• Dr. Paul Sullivan, Senior International Affairs Fellow, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, Professor of Economics, National Defense University, and Adjunct Senior Fellow for Future Global Resource Threats, Federation of American Scientists.

Mr. John Pratt, Member, Board of Directors, and Distinguished International Affairs Fellow, National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, and former Chairman, Middle East Council of the American Chambers of Commerce, will serve as moderator.

DATE & TIME:

April 8, 2015
9:30 – 10:00 a.m. – Coffee & Tea / Networking
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Remarks / Q&A

LOCATION:

Rayburn House Office Building
Gold Room (2168)
45 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20515

REGISTRATION:

The event is free but R.S.V.P. (acceptances only) via email to rsvp@ncusar.org is required.

Please note: seating capacity is limited. Include the following information when you R.S.V.P.:
Name:
Company:
Title:
Phone:
Email:

If you have any questions you can call the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations at (202) 293-6466.

SPECIALISTS:

Dr. John Duke Anthony Dr. John Duke Anthony is the Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. On June 22, 2000, on his first official state visit to the United States, H.M. King Muhammad VI of Morocco knighted Dr. Anthony, bestowing upon him Morocco’s highest award for excellence. Dr. Anthony currently serves on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy and the Committee’s Subcommittee on Sanctions (with special reference to Iran). A former director of the American Cultural Exchange Program in Iran, he is the only American to have been invited to each of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Ministerial and Heads of State Summits since the GCC’s inception in 1981.

H.E. Ambassador Seyed Hossein Mousavian H.E. Ambassador Seyed Hossein Mousavian is an Associate Research Scholar at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. From 1997 to 2005, he was the head of the Foreign Relations Committee of Iran’s National Security Council; from 2003 to 2005, he served as spokesman for Iran in its nuclear negotiations with the European Union. He is author of The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Memoir, published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 2012 and Iran and the United States: An Insider’s View on the Failed Past and the Road to Peace, published by Bloomsbury Publishers in May 2014.

Dr. Thomas Mattair Dr. Thomas Mattair is Executive Director of the Middle East Policy Council. He has taught at Kent State University, the University of Southern California, the University of California at Riverside, and Cornell University. He also served as Director of Research at the Middle East Policy Council from 1992 to 1995. From 1997 until 2003, Dr. Mattair was a Research Scholar at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, where he researched and wrote The Three Occupied UAE Islands: The Tunbs and Abu Musa. His most recent book is Global Security Watch — Iran: A Reference Handbook (2008), a study of Iran’s foreign relations.

Dr. Kenneth Katzman Dr. Kenneth Katzman serves as a Specialist in Middle East Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division of the Congressional Research Service, with special emphasis on Iran, Iraq, the Persian Gulf states, Afghanistan, and extremist groups operating in the Middle East and South Asia. He provides reports and briefings to Members of the U.S. Congress and their staffs on U.S. policy and legislation on these countries and issues. Dr. Katzman recently authored the CRS Report “Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses,” and has also written articles in various outside publications, including The Warriors of Islam: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Dr. Imad Harb Dr. Imad Harb is a Distinguished International Affairs Fellow with the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations and founder of Quest for Middle East Analysis, a research, consultancy, and advocacy firm on Middle East issues. He recently returned to Washington, DC after working as a researcher and analyst in the GCC region. Dr. Harb previously worked to help rehabilitate the Iraqi higher education sector as a Senior Program Officer for Education at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Since earning his PhD from the University of Utah, Dr. Harb has been an Adjunct Professor at San Francisco State University, the University of Utah, Georgetown University, George Washington University, the University of Maryland, and the Middle East Institute.

Dr. Paul Sullivan Dr. Paul Sullivan is a Senior International Affairs Fellow with the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. He has been a Professor of Economics at the National Defense University (NDU) since 1999. There he has also been an advisor to flag officers from the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and East Asia and was a part of the initial point team to help establish a National Defense University in the UAE. Dr. Sullivan is also an Adjunct Professor of Security Studies at Georgetown University as well as an Adjunct Senior Fellow for Future Global Resource Threats at the Federation of American Scientists and a columnist for newspapers in Turkey and Mongolia.

Mr. John Pratt Mr. John Pratt has spent over 45 years in the Middle East and North Africa, and recently joined the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations as a Board Member and Distinguished International Affairs Fellow. Prior to joining the National Council, Mr. Pratt concluded a 35-year career with Saudi Aramco. Mr. Pratt was an active member of the American Business Association of the Eastern Province, serving as Vice President for External Affairs and Chairman of the Issues Committee. He is a former Chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce regional organization in the Arabian Gulf, the Middle East Council of the American Chambers of Commerce, and a past member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s International Policy Committee.