VZCZCXRO6613
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHDIR #0070/01 3311207
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 271207Z NOV 07
FM IRAN RPO DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0200
INFO RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0148
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHDIR/IRAN RPO DUBAI 0193

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 IRAN RPO DUBAI 000070 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA PLEASE PASS ECA/FO FOR DAS ROMANOWSKI, DAS FARRELL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  11/27/2017 
TAGS: OEXC OIIP PHUM PINR
SUBJECT: IRPO PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: YEAR ONE - A PROMISING START 
 
RPO DUBAI 00000070  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Ramin Asgard, Acting Director, Iran Regional 
Presence Office, Dubai. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: One of IRPO's primary mandates upon commencing 
operations in August 2006 was the revival of US-Iran public 
diplomacy programming - which focused largely on supporting 
US-Iran educational and cultural exchanges.  In this three-part 
report on IRPO Year One PD programming, part I will look back on 
the past year's public diplomacy programs, part II will focus on 
Iranian reactions to the programs, and part III will look 
forward to the coming year and beyond.  In our first year, IRPO 
PAO helped send roughly 120 Iranians resident in Iran to the US 
on various exchange programs.  We welcomed five visiting 
official speakers provided through the IIP bureau, established 
two small grants in the UAE to advance USG public outreach to 
Iran, and helped support ECA efforts to establish student 
advising services for Iranians, and to bring Farsi instructors 
to the US.  Our first year saw many challenges.  Perhaps the 
most daunting was the Iranian government's increasing suspicion 
about our activities and their efforts to undermine our 
programs.  As we move into our second year, many challenges 
remain, but the foundation is in place for continued expansion 
of our outreach to the Iranian people through a growing range of 
public diplomacy programs.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (C) International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP): In 
November 2006, 16 Iranian medical professions visited the US on 
an IVLP program.  This courageous group represented the first 
Iranian exchange visitors from within Iran since 1979.  Over the 
course of the year, 104 Iran-based IVLPs visited the US, touring 
key institutions, meeting with American peers, and immersing 
themselves in American culture.  Ten of the IVLP programs were 
Iran country specific program, and two were multi-regional 
programs with Iranian programs.  Program topics included 
Disaster Management, Visual Arts, Rule of Law, Documentary 
Filmmaking, Music, Substance Abuse Treatment, Women's 
Entrepreneurship, and Teaching English as a Second Language. 
(Note: Our colleagues in London and Berlin arranged 10 
additional Iranian IVLP participants from among the European 
Iranian expatriate community.  End note.) 
 
¶3. (C) The Iranian government response to the IVLP program 
varied, depending on the program topic, sponsoring US partners, 
relevant Iranian ministries, and level of media attention.  In 
general, the IRIG was skeptical of the intentions of all 
official exchange programs, but only started to take active 
measures to disrupt the programs later in the year (to be 
detailed septel).  Participants were overwhelmingly positive in 
describing their experience, and some positive institutional and 
civil society relationships were established.  A comprehensive 
review and analysis of Iranian government, participant, and 
institutional responses to the IVLP and other exchange programs 
will follow septel. 
 
¶4. (C) Official Speaker Program: The IRPO welcomed five speakers 
to Dubai (and the UAE) as part of the official speaker program. 
Speaker themes included: Women and Science, Entrepreneurship, 
Documentary Film and Media Issues, and US Elections.  Because we 
currently maintain no institutional links with Iranian cultural 
and educational organizations based in Dubai, we broadened 
speaker focus to issues and programs of general interest.  The 
Abu Dhabi and Dubai PAO offices were a great source of 
programming and media relations support in this regard. 
 
¶5. (C) Student Advising: As of September 2007, ECA had finalized 
its grant agreement with AMIDEAST to provide student advising 
for Iranians exploring higher educational opportunities in the 
US.  The final AMIDEAST grant envisioned most of the advising 
performed via online contact between prospective students and 
AMIDEAST Washington through online services.  In addition, the 
AMIDEAST student advising office in Dubai is planning to provide 
public outreach and advising services by appointment through a 
resident student advisor based in Dubai. 
 
¶6. (C) Grants: IRPO PD provided two grants in FY2007.  The first 
was to the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Center (DUCTAC) to 
provide local venue, logistical, and personnel support for 
staging a documentary film festival.  The IIP Bureau is 
providing a separate supporting grant to the US-based Artistic 
Director, Anisa Mehdi.  The film festival, scheduled for April 
2008, will feature US, Iranian, and Persian Gulf films and 
filmmakers and serve as a foundation for establishing a 
permanent film society in Dubai.  The second IRPO PD grant in 
FY2007 was to George Mason University - Ras Al Khaimah's English 
 
RPO DUBAI 00000070  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Language Program to conduct a residential TESOL training course 
in RAK for Iranian TESOL instructors.  Two separate two-week 
courses are currently planned for winter and spring 2008. 
 
¶7. (C) Interaction with Media: Based upon IRPO's location in 
Dubai, and press and Iranian government speculation about our 
activities, the UAEG on occasion shared its concerns about the 
profile and scope of IRPO operations with Embassy Abu Dhabi.  In 
general, our operating guidance was to maintain a low profile. 
This meant limiting our interaction with local and international 
media based in Dubai.  At the outset, the media wanted to 
discuss IRPO specifically, which would be problematic for the 
UAEG, and consequently the US-UAE bilateral relationship.  As 
the year passed, media attention to the novelty of and policy 
motivations for IRPO's presence in Dubai abated. 
 
¶8. (C) Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (Program):  In 
coordination with the ECA bureau and the Institute for 
International Education (IIE), IRPO PD supported 16 FLTA program 
participants during FY2007.  This valuable program brought 
English-speaking language instructors to American universities 
to teach Farsi, a language specifically targeted under the 
National Security Language Initiative.  While participants faced 
some Iranian government pressures, out of the 23 originally 
approved for the program, 16 eventually were able to attend. 
 
¶9. (C) Comment: Given the conditions attendant to conducting 
Iran Public Diplomacy activities from Dubai, IRPO PD was often 
obliged to carefully calibrate our programming to local and 
policy realities.  IRPO was a start-up attempting to revive 
exchanges after a 27 year hiatus.  Given this, we were obliged 
to learn through trial and error at times.  One IVLP alumnus 
offered a telling analogy on this point, suggesting that 
navigating any form of US engagement with Iran - even if limited 
to educational and cultural exchanges - was like navigating a 
mine field.  Even one mistake can be disastrous.  Having cleared 
at least part of this minefield intact through our first year of 
operations, we learned many lessons.  We will comment on Iranian 
reactions in part II of our review, and Part III will outline 
lessons learned and some suggestions as we move forward.  End 
comment. 
ASGARD