VZCZCXRO9662
RR RUEHDE
DE RUEHLO #0473/01 0371729
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061729Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY LONDON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1692
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 2381
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0125
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0249
RUEHKB/AMEMBASSY BAKU 0131
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0418
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 2787

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LONDON 000473 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR ECA/PE/V/R/N (ABED-KOTOB) 
INFO ECA/PE/V/M (CAROL GRABAUSKAS/TEVE TAYLOR) 
NEA/PPD 
EUR/PPD 
EUR/UBI 
DUBAI FOR RAMIN ASGARD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO OEXC SCUL IR UK
SUBJECT: FY-2007 TEACHING AREA STUDIES, 11/15-12/2/06: EVALUATION BY 
UK/IRAN IVLP ALIMOHAMMAD PEDRAM 
 
REF: LONDON 414 
 
¶1. SUMMARY/RESULTS-IMPACT 
------------------------- 
A). Ali Pedram found this an interesting and informative program on 
all fronts, academically, professionally and personally.  It 
destroyed the preconceived ideas he had of the United States and its 
culture as well as its foreign policy toward the Middle East.  Ali 
found Americans well informed about international issues and to have 
astute political judgment.  As an Iranian, Ali thought he might 
encounter hostility from U.S. officials and ordinary Americans, but 
this was not the case.  Although he always kept his passport with 
him, he was never asked to show it.  In fact, he felt very safe and 
welcome throughout the program.   He felt the objective of providing 
participants with a good grounding in American culture was well 
achieved and that the overall program was 100 percent successful. 
 
B). The program was packed and the timing could not have been 
better.  It was very beneficial to get a better understanding of how 
the system of government works and what it does.   The IVLP also 
sparked many interesting and useful contacts, which he has already 
followed up.  Ali was extremely pleased with the opportunity to 
attend the Middle East Studies Association annual conference in 
Boston, where he said he was able to meet 85 percent of the best 
scholars on the Middle East in one place.  His home hospitality 
experiences were wonderful. 
 
C). At his debriefing, Ali mentioned that he would like to see an 
American-Iranian University Partnership set up to increase academic 
collaboration and exchanges, and then to develop a university-based, 
non-governmental institution to help identify potential exchange 
partnerships in Iran and foster exchanges.  Post reported this 
separately in London 414, dated February 1, 2007, with a 
recommendation that the Department explore the opportunities the 
proposal presents.  If ever there was a positive result from an 
IVLP, this is one.  Ali felt it important that more dialogue take 
place between the West and countries like Iran to improve 
understanding between ordinary Iranians and people from the West, 
and thus the overall relationship. 
 
D). Ali had high praise for Avi Davidi's work as ELO.  Davidi was 
able to sort out myriad details allowing the participants to make 
the most of the trip.  He also helped them incorporate added 
elements to the program, such as a meeting with Hill Foreign Affairs 
Committee staff. 
 
E). Ali enjoyed traveling with Naika Foroutan-Mahin. They had lots 
of mutual topics in common and they both wanted to get as much out 
of the project as possible. 
 
¶2. BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, NOVEMBER 16-24, 2006 
--------------------------------------------- - 
A). The overview given by Dr. Mark Silverstein from Boston 
University was excellent and laid the ground for the remainder of 
the program. 
 
B). The four day Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Annual 
Conference was very significant and a great experience academically. 
 It was really useful meeting leading scholars in Middle East 
studies.  In fact, it was difficult to pick which panel discussions 
to attend, as there were so many excellent ones from which to 
choose. 
 
C). The meeting at the Northeastern University was also tremendously 
useful and fruitful.  Staff presented the University's academic 
programs, and in particular their practice-oriented education 
program and the nation's largest cooperative education program.  It 
was through these meetings, particularly with Professor Denis 
Sullivan of the Middle East Center for Peace, Culture and 
Development that Ali developed his proposal for U.S.-Iranian 
university partnerships.  Ali has been offered a visiting fellowship 
by Northeastern University to help it expand its existing program of 
cooperation with Middle Eastern universities to include Iran and to 
organize a video conference in the spring of 2007 with Iranian 
university students and faculty. 
 
D). He thoroughly enjoyed the home hospitality over Thanksgiving 
with a family.  He had an interesting conversation about the history 
of Boston.  They kindly gave him a gift. 
 
LONDON 00000473  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
E). They went to see the film Borat while in Boston, which Ali found 
very funny. 
 
¶3. RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, NOVEMBER 24-29, 2006 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
A). The local sponsor did a brilliant job in putting together an 
excellent program.  Ali had an amazing experience, from the 
professional programming to sightseeing.  He was fascinated to see 
that there were two Persian carpet stores plus Persian cafes and 
restaurants. 
 
B). The meetings at the various universities were really worthwhile. 
 This included: 
- Meeting with Ruth Pitts, University of North Carolina (UNC), and 
Carl Ernst, Director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the 
Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, UNC.  Ali is in touch with 
Ruth Pitts and they may collaborate on a study of U.S.-EU relations 
surrounding the Iran nuclear issue, which he had a chance to discuss 
during the visit.  Ali felt that it is very important for students 
and scholars to have experience of studying in foreign countries, as 
it gives them a better understanding of how different people view 
international relations.  A visit to the University Press at Duke 
University and the Sunday service at the University's chapel were 
wonderful.  It reminded him of the services in Durham Cathedral. 
 
C). One of the highlights of the program was being taken on a three 
hour driving tour of the Raleigh-Durham area by a former U.S. 
Ambassador to Turkmenistan, who is the editor in chief of the 
Diplomacy Journal. Ali found this unnamed host very knowledgeable 
and intelligent, and he was overwhelmed that such an eminent man 
would take the time to informally drive around with two foreign 
visitors.  This made an impression on Ali about the volunteer spirit 
and hospitality of Americans. 
 
D). The home hospitality with Linda Carl was very fun. 
 
¶4. WASHINGTON, D.C., NOVEMBER 29-DECEMBER 2, 2006 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
A). Although Ali gained a lot out of the D.C. program, he was sorry 
that a visit to Capitol Hill was not included in the formal program. 
 As mentioned earlier, the group managed to organize this themselves 
with the assistance of ELO Avi Davidi.  However, Ali said he would 
have liked to meet a Member of Congress.  Ali also felt that the 
program would have benefited from meetings with think tanks like 
Brookings (meeting was cancelled). 
 
B). Because a meeting with the Voice of America was not included in 
the formal program, Ali arranged his own meeting.  He felt that it 
was unfortunate that this meeting had not been arranged as VOA is 
the only interface between the USG and the Iranian people.  He did 
not wish to visit VOA for an interview, but rather to see first-hand 
how this very important institution operated.  Ali thought it 
tremendously important for him and future Iranian visitors to get an 
understanding of the VOA and how it tries to fulfill an independent 
journalistic mission while also conveying information about the U.S. 
and USG policies and maintaining an audience in a competitive 
communications marketplace.  Ali was concerned that the U.S. 
government was not using this very useful tool to talk to the 
Iranian people and that they are loosing customers to the BBC, which 
has just opened their Persian Service.  While at VOA Ali was asked 
if he would be interviewed on air, but he declined as it could have 
put him in an awkward situation back home.   It was really useful 
for him to see how VOA works, how news is spotted, collected and 
edited.  Ali has had some experience with connecting with Iranian 
youth as a broadcaster in Iran.  He would be happy to provide any 
useful assistance to VOA or the Department of State in this regard. 
 
 
C). The meetings at the University of Maryland and Howard University 
were excellent.  At the University of Maryland they visited the 
Center for Persian Studies and had the opportunity to interact with 
the students.  It was interesting to learn that the second or third 
generation of U.S./Iranians are wanting to learn Farsi and to learn 
about Persian history and literature.  Ali was amazed by the quality 
of the students in the literature class he attended.  Ali was also 
impressed by Howard University.  He felt that the Howard program 
would flourish within the next three years.  He was only sorry that 
a meeting at Johns Hopkins was not included and that there was no 
 
LONDON 00000473  003 OF 003 
 
 
area studies component. 
 
D). The concert at the Kennedy Center was good and he was amazed to 
see that the hall was full.  They saw a group of 40 Iranian singers 
and composers performing classic Persian music.  It was a very 
charismatic evening. 
 
E). Avi Davidi scored another fantastic success when he arranged for 
Ali to attend an interview between the Saudi Ambassador and Jim 
Geffries.  What was planned as a fifteen minute meeting turned into 
a fifty minute talk. 
 
G). Asked about how to best structure future Iranian IVLPs, Ali said 
that the Department of State should focus on non-political or 
controversial topics such as the humanities, art, literature and 
perhaps filmmaking.  He also encouraged inclusion of inter-religious 
dialogue and urged us not to forget religious seminary students in 
Iran when looking for participants as this is a key target audience 
of future influencers. 
 
TUTTLE