Exploring the future of EU-Iran relations

The European Union’s relationship with Iran is reaching new lows. Iran’s missile attack against Israel, in response to a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy in Syria, as well as its support for proxy groups such as Hezbollah and the Houthis, are undermining stability in the Middle East. Geopolitically, its military support for Russia is also affecting the European security order, while worries remain regarding the acceleration of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Simultaneously, there are significant concerns regarding Iran’s domestic situation, with the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission concluding that the violent repression of peaceful protests and pervasive institutional discrimination against women and girls has led to serious human rights violations, many amounting to crimes against humanity.

While the EU has put in place a range of sanctions against the Iranian regime, the lack of positive developments and an increase in escalatory actions, beg the question how the EU should continue to respond and whether other approaches need to be considered.

In this context, this online discussion will address three key questions:

• What are international avenues to hold the Iranian regime accountable for its human rights violations such as internet shutdowns, excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and sexual and gender-based violence?
• How should the European Union respond to the regional and domestic dynamics and what could be the contours of a new European policy on Iran?
• How could the European Union effectively support Iranian civil society actors and activists and their spaces of action in Iran and in the diaspora?

Programme

Opening remarks by Roderick Kefferpütz, Director, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union

Discussion with:

• Gissou Nia, Founder and director of the Strategic Litigation Project, Atlantic Council
• Cornelius Adebahr, Non-resident Fellow, Carnegie Europe

Moderator: Bente Scheller, Head of the Middle East and North Africa Division, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Berlin

Discussion and Q&A

Please confirm your attendance by 14 May 2024, via this link. For any further question, please contact Joan Lanfranco.