Panel discussion with Prof. Joachim Krause and Dr. Matthias Küntzel

Time: Thursday January 29th, 2015 at 7 p.m.Location: Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, Raum 2097 Event in German language Please register: anmeldung@mideastfreedomforum.org

While the world is appalled by the barbaric atrocities of the "Islamic State" (IS), the Islamic Republic of Iran is considered a partner in the fight against IS. But the Islamic Republic of Iran is itself the largest sponsor and exporter of radical Islamic terrorism and is becoming a nuclear threshold country under the eyes of the international community. Although an interim agreement regarding the Iranian nuclear program was reached in December 2013, the deadline for a comprehensive settlement has been already extended twice, most recently in November 2014 for another six months. But even an agreement in June 2015 would offer no safety as long as the Iranian regime would retain the capacity to build a nuclear bomb. Our two speakers, Prof. Dr. Joachim Krause and Dr. Matthias Küntzel, will analyze the negotiations so far and discuss the consequences of a possible agreement on the Western World, the region and notably Israel. The discussion will focus on the varying interests of the negotiating P5 + 1 countries. What is the result of Iran's involvement in the fight against the "Islamic State", since the Islamic Republic is also to blame for the emergence of IS? What is the impact of the dramatic drop in oil prices for Iran's nuclear ambitions and its willingness to negotiate seriously? Do domestic in-fightings in Iran have any consequences for the negotiations? And what options does Israel have, which consideres a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat to the Jewish state?   Prof. Dr. Joachim Krause is director of the Institute for Security Policy at the University of Kiel. His main field of research is international politics and security, German foreign policy and terrorism. Dr. Matthias Küntzel is a political scientist and journalist. His 2009 publication "The Germans and Iran" examines the history of the German-Iranian relations in the 20th century. In 2011 he was honored by the American Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for his commitment against anti-Semitism with the Paul Ehrlich - Günther K. Schwerin Human Rights Award.