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Ambassador, Author to Speak on Relations Between United States and Iran
Ancient Persia ~ Modern Iran Lecture Series Continues
Daytona Beach, Fla., February 11, 2009
"Iran American Estrangement: Negotiating a Reconciliation" will be the topic of two speakers delivering the fourth lecture in the Ancient Persia ~ Modern Iran Lecture Series, slated for Thursday, Feb. 19, at Bethune-Cookman University.
The first speaker is Ambassador John W. Limbert, the current charge d’affaires of the U.S. embassy in Sudan, who was held for 444 days during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-1981 when he worked at the U.S. embassy in Tehran. His many publications on Middle Eastern issues include the book Iran: At War with History.
Also speaking will be Dr. Trita Parsi, author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel, and the United States, and a recipient of the 2008 Silver Medal of the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award.
PARSI
The lecture is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Bethune-Cookman’s Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center, 698 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach. A welcome reception runs from 5:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be moderated by WNDB 1150 AM radio host Marc Bernier and recorded for broadcast on Daytona State College’s PBS-TV Channel 15.
The Iranian American Lecture Series Committee is sponsoring the lecture with the goal of increasing the understanding and appreciation of Persian/Iranian history, politics, and culture.
The Lecture Series Committee, spearheaded by Forough Hosseini of the Iranian American Society, consists of Drs. Mohamed Camara and Linda Straubel of Embry-Riddle; Dr. Douglas Peterson of Daytona State College (DSC); Bruce Dunn of DSC’s Channel 15; Kevin Miller of DSC’s Southeast Museum of Photography; Dr. Hiram Powell of Bethune-Cookman; and Marc Bernier of WNDB radio. The lectures are produced with support from the Cultural Council of Volusia County and are sponsored in part by Bright House Networks and Sodexho Inc.
Limbert is a career Foreign Service Officer whose overseas experience includes postings to Algeria, Djibouti, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. He has received the State Department's Meritorious Honor Award, Superior Honor Award, and Award for Valor, among many others. Educated at Harvard University in History and Middle Eastern Studies, Limbert taught in Iran as a Peace Corps volunteer and as an English instructor at Shiraz University, and now teaches political science at the U.S. Naval Academy. His latest book on the Middle East is Shiraz in the Age of Hafez: The Glory of a Medieval Persian City.
Treacherous Alliance by Dr. Parsi is the first book since 1987 to directly address Israeli-Iranian relations and their impact on the national interest of the United States, based on extensive interviews with decision-makers from all three countries. Formerly he was an advisor to U.S. Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) on Middle Eastern issues. He is a co-founder and current president of the National Iranian American Council (www.niacouncil.org), a non-partisan, non-profit organization promoting Iranian-American participation in American civic life.
For more information, contact Vickie Sims, executive director of the Iranian American Society of Daytona Beach, at (386) 682-1223 or VSims@IASDB.org..
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