Iranian perspectives on recent regional escalation, 24 June 2025

Responding to the escalation of hostilities between Iran, Israel, and the US, we convened an online discussion on 24 June to allow foreign ministry officials, parliamentarians, academics, and journalists from Europe and the Gulf-MENA region to hear perspectives from three senior Iranian officials from the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) - the main think tank of the foreign ministry in Tehran.

HE Dr Saeed Khatibzadeh, President of IPIS and Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran; Dr Khalil Shirgholami, Director General of IPIS; and Dr Alireza Gholipour, Deputy Director General of IPIS, shared their assessments of recent developments, including the challenges and the risk of further escalation. Participants attended from Finland, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Order of Malta, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the US.