IRPO PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: YEAR ONE - A PROMISING START

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 IRAN RPO DUBAI 000070

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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

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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

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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