A briefing featuring: Ambassador John Bolton and Dr. Michael Ledeen

While violence and chaos in Egypt and Syria has drawn much of the media attention in recent months, the Iranian regime continues to advance inexorably closer towards possessing a nuclear weapons arsenal, an existential threat to the state of Israel, national security of the United States and the Middle East region.

With the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, some suggest that there is now time to once again attempt to dissuade Iran from its path. Who is Hassan Rouhani, the recently “elected” President of the Islamic Republic of Iran? Is he a reformer and moderate as has been repeatedly suggested in various media outlets? Will he be amendable to negotiations with the West in order to halt the Iranian nuclear weapons program? Or is he the regime official chiefly responsible for Iran’s current program of deceptive negotiating tactics? A man who has appointed wanted terrorists to his defense cabinet? Under whose leadership the Iranian regime has actually increased the tempo of executions for political prisoners? How should the United States and the West deal with this new Iranian leader?

Ambassador John Bolton and Dr. Michael Ledeen will address these and other issues related to the recent Iranian elections, and their insight into what sort of leader President Hassan Rouhani is likely to be, and how his election will impact Iran’s interactions with the United States and the West.

Ambassador John R. Bolton, a diplomat and a lawyer, has spent many years in public service. From August 2005 to December 2006, he served as the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations. From 2001 to 2005, he was under secretary of state for arms control and international security. Bolton also served as Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs (1989-93), Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice (1985-89), Assistant Administrator for Program and Policy Coordination (1982-83), and General Counsel of the U.S. Agency for International Development (1981-82). As a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Ambassador Bolton’s area of research is U.S. foreign and national security policy. Ambassador Bolton is a frequent contributor to a wide variety of publications including the National Review and the Wall Street Journal and a frequent guest on The Fox News Channel. Ambassador Bolton was honored in 2012 as an EMET Speaker of the Truth.

 
Dr. Michael Ledeen is a Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Freedom Scholar whose ideas and insights on the workings of the Iranian government have been a critical part of the policy discussion for decades. He is a highly regarded expert on Iran’s Green Movement and maintains close ties to opposition groups inside Iran. His scholarship on Iraq, terrorism and international security have been sought after by those in and out of government and the intelligence community, the media and policy influencers. He is a contributing editor at National Review Online. Previously, Dr. Ledeen served as a consultant to the National Security Council, the State Department, and the Defense Department.  He has also served as a special adviser to the Secretary of State. He holds a Ph.D. in modern European history and philosophy from the University of Wisconsin, and has taught at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Rome.Dr. Ledeen is the author of more than 20 books, including: Accomplice to Evil: Iran and the War Against the West; The War Against the Terror Masters; and The Iranian Time Bomb. Dr. Ledeen regularly appears on Fox News, and on a variety of radio talk shows.  He has been on PBS’s NewsHour and CNN’s Larry King Live, among others, and regularly contributes to the Wall Street Journal and to National Review Online. He has a tremendous following on his blog Faster Please, which supports Iran’s democracy movement.