Iran In A Period Of Arab Protest Movements Organisé Par L’institut Kurde De Paris, Salle Victor Hugo 101 Rue De L’université, 75007 Paris

Mr. Karim ABDIAN, Mr. Nasser BOLADEI, Mr. Mostafa HEJRI, Mr. Hedayat SOLTANZADEH

Presentation
In a Near East that is boiling over, where popular revolts are challenging the established dictatorial regimes, the Iranian regime seems to be keeping its course, despite fresh and draconian international sanctions.

Although the media only mention Iran in connection with the tug of war over the nuclear issue, the dynamics of change at work within Iranian society, the development of the Iranian regime’s relations with its neighbours, the splits in the very heart of the regime all deserve discussion and thought, to understand better this country whose future is of the highest importance for the region’s peace and security.

Distancing itself from the discussions on the nuclear issue, which often monopolise the front pages in Europe, this symposium hopes to provide some material for understanding the Iranian situation since Ahmedinjad`s first term in office (2005) at this time of «Arab Springs» and fresh sanctions.

How can we draw a map of the political and social movements of the Iranian populations?

Where, today, are the feminist struggles of the turn of the 2000s?

Who are the actors of the ‘cyberspace’ who, in the contest of the strict control of the press, became the main vector of a number of communications and parallel associations in the urban centres?

What is the situation of the protest movements amongst the non-Persian peoples (Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, Baluchis, Turkomenians) who, together make up 60% of the Iranian population, whose fates and aspirations are so often ignored?

What is the impact of the Syrian civil war on Teheran’s regional relations? Can the struggle for regional influence between Turkey and Iran degenerate into conflict?

Some Iranian and Western experts are called on to bring their light on these questions and on the condition of Iranian society, which is in a state of crisis.

Programme
1.30 p.m.: Reception of guests

2.00 : The speech of welcome and presentation of the symposium

2.5-2.20:

Mr. Pouria AMIRSHAHI, Member of the French Parliament, National Secretary for International Cooperation and Human Rights of the Socialist Party.
2.20-4.30: 1st Round TableIRANIAN SOCIETY TODAY
Moderator :Mr. Hamit BOZARSLAN, Research director at the EHESS, Paris

Speakers :
Mr. Hashem AHMADZADEH, associate lecturer of Middle East Studies, Exeter University, Great Britain
« The ethnic challenges of the Iranian political system »
Mr. Stéphane DUDOIGNON, research worker at the CNRS
« Iran’s relations with its Eastern borders »
Mrs. Marie LADIER, research worker at the CNRS
« Iran’s political situation since the fraudulent re-election of Mr. Ahmedinjad in 2009 »
Mr. Gilles RIAUX, research worker at the IRSEM
« The reconfiguring of relations between the centre and the periphery under the Islamic Republic »
Mr. Nuri YEŞİLYURT, Ankara University, Political Science
« The evolution of Turco-Iranian relations before and after the Arab Springs »

4.30-4.45 : BREAK

4.45-6.55 : 2nd Round TableTHE QUESTION OF THE NON-PERSIAN PEOPLES
Moderator :Mr. Kendal NEZAN, president of the Paris Kurdish Institute

Speakers :
Mr. Karim ABDIAN, Democratic Solidarity Party of the Al-Ahwaz
Mr. Yussef AZIZI, former lecturer at Teheran University
Mr. Nasser BOLADEI, First Secretary of the Baluchi People’s Party
Mr. Mostafa HEJRI, General Secretary of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran
Mr. Mohammmad NAZARI, Organization in Defence of the Turkmen People Rights
Mr. Hedayat SOLTANZADEH, member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic Federal Movement of Azerbaijan

6.55 : CLOSING SPEECH