Dr. Ali Banuazizi, Boston College
March 4, 2016

The July 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and the six world powers was a major diplomatic achievement for the Obama administration and the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani. If successfully implemented, the agreement will significantly restrain Iran’s nuclear ambitions and could potentially lead to a normalization of U.S.-Iran relations after nearly four decades of hostility and distrust between the two countries. What would be the potential consequences of a rapprochement between Iran and the U.S. for the Persian Gulf and the broader Middle East region, including the conflicts in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq? And to what extent will such outcomes be dependent on the domestic politics in the two countries—including the March 2016 parliamentary elections in Iran and the 2016 presidential campaign in the U.S.?

Dr. Ali Banuazizi is Professor of Political Science at Boston College and Director of the Program in Islamic Civilization & Societies. After receiving his Ph. D. from Yale University in 1968, he taught at Yale and the University of Southern California before joining the Boston College Faculty in 1971. Since then, he has held visiting appointments at the University of Tehran, Princeton, Harvard, and Oxford University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and M.I.T. He served as the founding editor of the journal of Iranian Studies, from 1968 to 1982.  He is a past President of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) and the International Society for Iranian Studies, and, currently, an Editor of the Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. Ali Banuazizi is the author of numerous articles on society, culture, and politics of Iran and the Middle East and coeditor (with Myron Weiner) of three books on politics, religion and society in Southwest and Central Asia.

Supported by New Mexico Humanities Council, Sandia National Labs, Haverland Carter Lifestyle Group and the Albuquerque Journal