Reframing Iran: Views from the Field
A report reflecting the views of the Network 20/20 delegations to Iran, February 2007.
Author: Patricia S. Huntington, with George Billard and Tai-Heng Cheng
Additional Contributors: Richard M. Murphy and Sarah Pfuhl
Edited by Andrew McCord
George Billard
In the fall of 2006, Network 20/20 members traveled to Iran to gain firsthand knowledge of, and build relationships with, the people of this important country. We discovered that the desire for increased contact is widespread in Iran, and recognized that more detailed understanding of Iranian politics, history, and current conditions is vitally needed if we are to effectively engage the significant strands of Iranian society that are open to establishing constructive relations with the United States. In two separate 10-day trips to Iran, Network 20/20 conducted more than 50 interviews in 6 cities and several villages with a broad cross-section of Iranian society. Many interviewees spoke English; Network 20/20’s Farsi-speaking members conversed with those who did not.
We found that while nationalist sentiment was shared by Iranians across the political spectrum and was fueled by grievances over past American and British interference in domestic affairs, the interest in better relations with the U.S. remains strong. Iran’s nuclear program was largely viewed as a sign of national prestige rather than as a military strategy. While Western analysts saw an insurmountable division between “reformists” and “conservatives,” the reality was far more nuanced; alignments and ideology were fluid. For instance, even Iranian Reformists objected to coercive U.S. diplomacy and the threat of military force.
Our unique and unprecedented trip resulted in the groundbreaking report Reframing Iran: Views from the Field, which was widely disseminated to private and public sector leaders. Network 20/20 generated specific recommendations for the U.S. government, Congress, NGOs, media, universities, and private citizens. Chief among them was the need to reestablish relations with Iran. It also recommended that the U.S. help Iran accede to the WTO and called for more people-to-people exchanges. More than 100 copies were sent to members of Congress, on request. Translated into Farsi, the report was also circulated in Iran. To date we have circulated more than 2,000 bound copies of this report.