DEVELOPMENT, SECURITY, AND COOPERATION

U.S.-Iranian Cooperation in Addressing Global Issues

Statement of Task

In 2000, the leadership of the National Academies (The National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine) accepted an invitation from the leadership of the Iranian Academy of Sciences and the Iranian Academy of Medical Sciences to visit Iran. During the visit, the Americans had the opportunity both to meet with counterparts of the host academies and to consult with other colleagues at a number of Iranian universities and
	research centers. At the conclusion of the visit, the leaders of the five academies agreed to undertake during the period from 2000-2002 an ambitious program of bilateral scientific cooperation, beginning with inter-academy workshops on several topics of mutual interest, and indeed world-wide interest. Each of the four workshops included presentations on relevant science, technology and education interests of the United States and Iran and on opportunities for joint efforts in the future. More information about each of these meetings can be found in the links below.
Presidents of NAS, NAE, IOM, and the Iranian Academy of Sciences and Iranian Academy of Medical Sciences meet in Washington D.C. in 1999

In June 2003 the five academies selected specialists to help set the stage for the next phase of inter-academy bilateral scientific cooperation at a planning meeting at the Fondation des Treilles near Tourtour, France. The U.S. and Iranian participants decided to emphasize during this planning meeting three themes that are high on the global agenda of international organizations as well as being topics of considerable importance to the Unites States and Iran. The themes were food safety/food security, global energy transitions, and education and values. The first workshop, on Food Safety, was held in Iran in the fall of 2004.

Workshops

For more information about this project, please contact Sara Gray at sgray@nas.edu.