Iran and the South Caucasus - Public Discussion by Heinrich Boell Foundation

On Wednesday, March 18th, at 18:00 pm, the Heinrich Boell Foundation Tbilisi Office – South Caucasus Region holds the public discussion - Iran and the South Caucasus: Regional consequences of the conflict with the US.

After the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in the beginning of January by the US, it became obvious how difficult this US-Iranian conflict is for all three countries in the South Caucasus. They all have special relations with both Iran and the US. Yerevan depends economically and politically on Teheran, while neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan have an interest that Iran takes side in the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict. Georgia, as a country without a border with Iran, has supported the US in this context in a diplomatic way while it accepted Iran’s growing role in the region and over its Muslim population during the last years. Iran has built ties with Georgia’s breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia that have criticized the US action against Iran harshly.

Beside Turkey and Russia, Iran is an important regional player in the South Caucasus that is less discussed than the two others are. Therefore, with some distance we want to analyze, what is Iran’s role in the South Caucasus with a focus on Georgia by Eka Akobia and Azerbaijan by Zaur Shiriyev. Furthermore, we invited Adnan Tabatabai, the leading German-Iran expert to explain what is going on inside Iran, what are the prospects for the escalation of the Iran-US relations and what is the role of the EU in this context?

Speakers are:

- Eka Akobia, Dean, Caucasus School of Governance, Caucasus University;

- Zaur Shiriyev, Analyst for South Caucasus, the International Crisis Group;

- Adnan Tabatabai, political analyst on Iran affairs, Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient;

Moderator is Dr. Stefan Meister, Head of Office, Heinrich Boell Foundation Tbilisi Office – South Caucasus Region.

This event is organized in the framework of Heinrich Boell Foundation's format Boell Talks, which aims to hold public discussions with civil society representatives, experts and decision-makers on the topics of relevance for Georgia and the South Caucasus.

The event will be held on Georgian and English languages (simultaneous translation will be provided).

Venue: NATO & EU Info Center, 2/1 Sh. Dadiani st., Tbilisi
Admission is free.