BRATTLEBORO — On Friday, May 11, at 7 p.m., the Windham World Affairs Council will present Dr. Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former nuclear negotiator for Iran, at Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main St.
The talk, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Sanctuary of the Church, which has a large capacity and is handicapped accessible.
Mousavian's talk, “Revisiting the Nuclear Agreement between Iran and the U.S., the JCPOA,” comes after President Trump announced to the world on May 8 that the United States will no longer honor the agreement.
President Trump had until May 12 decide whether to certify that Iran is in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement made by his predecessor with with six world powers - the U.S., the U.K., Russia, France, China, and Germany.
Mousavian is an ex-diplomat from Iran who is currently a Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. In his talk, Mousavian will assess the Iran nuclear deal and its lessons for U.S.-Iran diplomacy.
He is uniquely qualified to examine the issues from a vantage point at the very center of unfolding events, especially as the Trump administration is also preparing for direct talks on de-nuclearization with North Korean leader Kim Jung-un.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Mousavian delivered a speech at the International Panel on Fissile Materials, hosted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea in Seoul, in which he proposed using the JCPOA as a model for any future negotiation with North Korea.
Mousavian accepted the invitation to speak after an invitation by WWAC Chair Eshagh Shaoul, who is of Iranian heritage and has followed Mousavian's many articles and posts and made his acquaintance over several years.
Mousavian was a spokesman for Iran in its nuclear negotiations with the European Union from 2003 to 2005. He is author of The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Memoir, published by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in June 2012. His latest book, Iran and the United States: An Insider's view on the Failed Past and the Road to Peace, was published by Bloomsbury Publishers in May 2014.
Learn more about WWAC at www.windhamworldaffairscouncil.org, and more about Seyed Hossein Mousavian by visiting hosseinmousavian.com.