Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 08/2014

US-Iran Cultural Engagement: A Cost Effective Boon to US National Security

Ramin Asgard, Barbara Slavin

June 2013

Atlantic Council

Abstract

This issue brief of the Atlantic Council's Iran Task Force outlines the 179-year history of US contacts with Iran, which have experienced periods of breakdown but currently are continuing at a low level despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties. It also recommends actions to advance these exchanges as a national security imperative—especially as the nuclear dispute with the Iranian government could well persist.