The Iran Project

Born out of a track II dialogue between the United States and Iran, initiated in 2002, and co-sponsored by the RBF and the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA), The Iran Project was established at the Foundation for a Civil Society in 2009. It encourages and supports official bilateral U.S.-Iran relations and negotiations; its core objectives have been to reduce tensions between Iran and United States and help resolve the  nuclear impasse, thereby enhancing US national security. The Iran Project is led by former RBF trustee William Luers and its unique strength derives from is its leadership by a core group including Ambassadors Luers, Thomas Pickering and Frank Wisner, MIT nuclear expert Jim Walsh, and RBF President Stephen Heintz. It produces policy papers, convenes roundtables of scholars, specialists, and journalists to share strategies on the issues, and meets with U.S. officials including members of Congress, the National Security Council, and the Administration. The same senior team from The Iran Project, working together over more than a decade, established an unprecedented rapport and trust with US officials and members of Congress in helping to shape one of the most important diplomatic challenges the US has faced in decades.   For more than a decade The Iran Project encouraged the expansion of diplomatic communication with Iran and supported the multi-lateral negotiations that culminated with the Iran Nuclear Agreement of June 2015. The RBF continues to fund the Project with grants for general support as it advocates for effective implementation of the nuclear agreement and greater US-Iran engagement on regional security challenges.