The nuclear agreement with Iran is considered a signature success for the European Union – it validates the principle of multilateral diplomacy as a means of resolving dangerous international conflicts. It also constituted progress in the difficult work of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The US withdrawal from the agreement in May 2018 was intended to unravel the agreement and yet the remaining signatories insist on upholding it. In this regard the European Union plays a special role as it chairs the regular meetings of the signatories and is the partner Iran hoped would help revive its economy. Thus for both economic and political reasons the EU’s words and actions will significantly influence whether the nuclear agreement can survive despite the United States. For the EU the repercussions go beyond Iran and the nuclear agreement – it is also about its own long-term relationship with the United States and the world order they built together since the end of World War II.

There are several major questions at this junction: can the EU deliver enough trade and financial exchange with Iran to make Tehran continue to adhere to its commitments? Or will factional competition within Iran lead Tehran to withdraw as well? Will the risk of an armed conflict increase if the agreement collapses?Ms. Dina Esfandiary, International Security Program Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Ms. Esfandiary’s research focuses on Persian Gulf security, Iran’s foreign relations, and non-proliferation. She is the co-author of Triple-Axis: Iran’s Relations with Russia and China (I.B Taurus, 2018) and is completing her PhD in the War Studies department at King’s College London.

• Dr. Bijan Khajepour, Managing partner at Vienna-based Eurasian Nexus Partners, a strategy consulting firm focused on the Eurasian region. Dr. Khajepour is a recognized expert on Iranian political and economic developments, especially the country’s energy sector. He is a regular contributor to Al-Monitor and holds a Doctorate of Business Administration from the International School of Management in Paris.
• Mr. Eldar Mamedov, Political adviser for the social-democrats in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament (since 2007). Mr. Mamedov is in charge of the delegations for inter-parliamentary relations with Iran, Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Mashreq. He is also a regular contributor to Lobelog and Muftah and holds degrees from the University of Latvia and the Diplomatic School in Madrid, Spain.
• Dr. Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, Research Fellow, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI); Visiting Fellow, War Studies, King's College London. Dr. Bassiri Tabrizi’s research is concerned with security in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Iran’s foreign and domestic politics. She holds a Ph.D from King’s College London on the diplomatic initiative of France, Germany and the UK (E3) on the Iranian nuclear issue.

Convened and Moderated by:

Rouzbeh Parsi, Visiting Research Scholar, Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies, Princeton University, and Head of the MENA Programme at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. Dr. Parsi holds a Ph.D in History from Lund University on nationalism and gender in Iran. He was Senior Research Fellow at the EU Institute for Security Studies (Paris) 2009-2013 and his research concerns EU - Iran relations and domestic Iranian politics.