On 4-5 June 2007, the IISS held the third workshop in its two-year programme ‘Building a Common Approach to the Iranian Nuclear Problem’, which is jointly directed by Senior Fellow for Transatlantic Relations Dr Dana Allin and Senior Fellow for Non-Proliferation Mark Fitzpatrick, and supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The workshop was held in Beijing in collaboration with the Graduate Institute of International Studies (Geneva) and the China Foreign Affairs University. The university is affiliated to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the workshop boasted an impressive range of participants from the Chinese government, academic, and arms control community. A strong contingent of American, European and Russian diplomats, academics and other opinion leaders exchanged perspectives on the Iranian nuclear problem, which has continued to dominate headlines since the previous workshop in New York last November. Topics in the various panels included the utility of further sanctions in response to Iran’s continuing defiance of UN resolutions; whether the Security Council would remain the focal point in resolving the issue; which strategies could best achieve the goal of preventing an Iranian nuclear weapons capability; and the prospects and consequences of military confrontation.
