Wednesday, April 30th 2008
International Conference about Iran at the University of Vienna
Scientists, oppositionists and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel broach the issue of the “Iranian threat”
On May 3rd and 4th, the international conference “The Iranian threat. The Islamic Republic, Israel’s struggle for existence and European reactions” takes place at the University of Vienna. The conference is hosted by STOP THE BOMB – Coalition against the Iranian Extermination Program in cooperation with Vienna's Jewish Community (IKG Wien), Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and the magazine Illustrierte Neue Welt.
The conference will be opened with a screened video message by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel who is also a supporter of the STOP THE BOMB online petition against the commercial transaction of the Austrian OMV with Iran. Among the conference speakers are scientists, politicians and activists from the USA, Iran, Austria, Germany, Portugal and Israel, such as the journalist Bruno Schirra, the political scientist Matthias Küntzel, Socialdemocratic Member of the European Parliament Paulo Casaca, the writer Robert Schindel, Michael Oren from the Shalem Centre in Jerusalem, Benny Morris (Ben Gurion University) and Jeffrey Herf (University of Maryland). Furthermore, Patrick Clawson (Washington Institute), as well as a number of Iranian dissidents like Menashe Amir, longtime head of the Farsi program of Kol Israel, Hiwa Bahrami, the Austrian Representative of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan Iran and Kayvon Kaboli, speaker of the Green Party of Iran.
Stephan Grigat, lecturer for political science at the University of Vienna and co-organiser of the conference sees the conference “as a protest against the indifference, vast parts of the Austrian and European public display, when confronted with the terror against the Iranian population and the threat of elimination towards Israel on the part of the Mullahs in Tehran.”
Simone Dinah Hartmann, spokesperson of STOP THE BOMB, states the goal of the campaign: “On the one hand a depiction, analysis and critique of the Islamic dictatorship shall be rendered. On the other hand, it is necessary to examine Europe's rapport – in particular the relations of Germany and Austria – with the Iranian regime. The conference will broach the issue of the Iranian nuclear arms program as well as the planned multi-billion Euro deal of the Austrian OMV with Iran."
The conference gains specific actuality through the current state of the negotiations of the OMV and Iran. According to oppositional Iranian groups, a high-ranking delegation of the OMV will travel to Tehran for further negotiations in late May.