The joint virtual session between the Iranian Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) and the French Institute of Montin (IM) about the regional and international issues was held on Monday, May 31, 2021.  

The session was attended by Dr.Mohammad KazemSajjadpour, Deputy Minister of MOFA & President of IPIS; Mr.Majid Ghafelebashi, Research Deputy at the Center; Hossein Gharibi  and Javad Kachoeian, Senior Experts at IPIS; Keyhan Barzegar and Hassan Ahmadian, Senior University Advisors; Pierre Vimont, Felix Buttin, Charles Thepault, Michel Duclos and Clement Thermes, Top Researchers at the said institute. 

The session was held in the form of two panels, “The Future of Iran/EU Relations”, and “Focus on West Asia and Mediterranean Developments”, to answer the following questions, (1) How are, at present, the Iran/EU relations? (2) What are the main factors for strengthening the Iran/EU relations? (3) What are Iran and EU’s opportunities in the rivalry between the US and China/Russia? (4) What are the latest developments in the Middle East and East of the Mediterranean regions? (5) What is the role of the regional and trans-regional countries in the Persian Gulf security?

Here are the most important issues touched upon at the session:

• The relations between Iran and the EU, especially the bilateral ties between Iran and France, enjoy a long history. Although these ties have had ups and downs in certain historical periods.
• The JCPOA, as the turning point in the Iran/EU ties, had a serious and fundamental impact on the expansion of relations in various economic, political and cultural areas between the two sides. However, during the Trump era, the European Union failed to fulfill its commitments under the JCPOA. This led to the bilateral Iran/EU relations going downward, due to the US unilateral sanctions.
• The recent negotiations in Vienna for reviving the JCPOA and returning the US to the JCPOA is a good opportunity for reviving new relations in various areas between the EU and Iran, although the past experiences of the US withdrawal from the agreement and the EU failure for compensating Iran’s damages could be one of the concerns for reviving the relations.
• Expanding peace and promoting security in West Asia is one of Iran’s main goals. However, some regional countries’ efforts to rely on trans-regional powers have caused insecurity and instability in the region. However, the recent positive developments in the region as well as the Vienna nuclear negotiations for resuscitating the JCPOA has opened a new perspective for consolidating sustainable peace and security in the region.