The Islamic Republic is experiencing major protests. This deep public anger is not just about the regime’s domestic policies but also resentment against its regional agenda, such as its interventions in the Arab world. Since 1979, the Islamists in Tehran have invested much in supporting Palestinian causes. But how is Iran’s track-record among the Palestinian political groups? Is Iran an enabler or a spoiler of the Palestinian cause? How has Iran so far reacted to the Abraham Accords of 2020 and does it see the idea of coexistence with Israel as a challenge to Iran’s anti-Israel model of “Axis of Resistance”? Finally, can Iran and the Gulf States that have signed the Abraham Accords perhaps find some common ground on how best to support the Palestinians in their aspirations? To discuss these issues, MEI is delighted to host a panel of experts moderated by Alex Vatanka, Senior Fellow and Director of the Iran Program.
Speakers
Zakia Aqra
Ph.D. Candidate & Research Associate, Centre for Mediterranean, Middle East and Islamic Studies
Mohammed Baharoon
Director General, Dubai Public Policy Research Center
Ibrahim Fraihat
Dean & Associate Professor in International Conflict Resolution, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies; Non-Resident Fellow, Deakin University’s Middle East Studies Forum
Alex Vatanka, moderator
Director, Iran Program; Senior Fellow, Frontier Europe Initiative, MEI
Detailed Speaker Biographies
Zakia Aqra
Zakia Aqra has been a research associate at the Centre for Mediterranean, Middle East and Islamic Studies (CEMMIS) since April 2010. In 2015, she was awarded a scholarship from the Onassis Foundation to conduct primary field research on the development assistance of Greece to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority. As an expert in Middle Eastern cultural, religious, social and political affairs, Aqra has worked with refugees in Greece as an intra-cultural mediator and interpreter with foreign journalists and news outlets across Europe. She is a research expert at the Centre for Religious Pluralism in the Middle East, a Greek MFA initiative.
Mohammed Baharoon
Mohammed Baharoon is the director general of the Dubai Public Policy Research Center (b’huth), established in 2002 in Dubai, UAE. At b'huth, Baharoon focuses on the interplay between geostrategy and policy making in governance, stability, capacity building and future proofing. As part of his interest in the emerging geostrategic space of the Arabian Peninsula, Mohammed looks at Iran as part of the development of the area as a major trade artery. Prior to this, he was an editor for Gulf Defence and a reporter for Al Arabi and Al Ittihad.
Ibrahim Fraihat
Ibrahim Fraihat is a dean and associate professor in international conflict resolution at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and non-resident fellow at Deakin University’s Middle East Studies Forum in Australia. He previously served as senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution and taught conflict resolution at Georgetown University and George Washington University. His latest book publications include: Iran and Saudi Arabia: Taming a Chaotic Conflict (Edinburgh University Press, 2020), Unfinished Revolutions: Yemen, Libya, and Tunisia after the Arab Spring (Yale University Press, 2016). Fraihat has published extensively on Middle East politics, with articles appearing in The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Huffington Post, Al Jazeera website, and elsewhere.
Alex Vatanka
Alex Vatanka is the founding Director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute. He specializes in Middle Eastern regional security affairs with a particular focus on Iran. He was formerly a Senior Analyst at Jane’s Information Group in London. Alex is also a Senior Fellow in Middle East Studies at the US Air Force Special Operations School (USAFSOS) at Hurlburt Field and teaches as an Adjunct Professor at DISAS at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Born in Tehran, he holds a BA in Political Science (Sheffield University, UK), and an MA in International Relations (Essex University, UK), and is fluent in Persian and Danish. He is the author of two books: “The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran: The United States, Foreign Policy and Political Rivalry Since 1979” (2021) and “Iran and Pakistan: Security, Diplomacy, and American Influence” (2015). Follow him @AlexVatanka.
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