As part of a new international public diplomacy program at Bar-Ilan University, a simulation was staged on Monday under the heading "Attack in Iran the media and diplomacy front." The exercise was staged by a group of experts representing the U.S. (Prof. Eytan Gilboa, director of the Bar-Ilan Center for International Communication), Iran (Prof. Meir Litvak), Israel [IDF Col. (res) Miri Eisen] and the United Nations (former Israeli ambassador to the U.N. Dr. Yehuda Lankri). The simulation was moderated by recent Israel Prize winner and veteran journalist Yaakov Ahimeir. Upon completing the exercise, the participants concluded that the West will likely present an agreement with Iran on June 30. According to the experts, the agreement will stipulate the following conditions: Iran will be allowed to enrich uranium to 3.5 percent; Iran will be compelled to relocate its existing enriched material to a location to be decided in separate negotiations; the underground nuclear facility in Fordo will be decommissioned; the sanctions on Iran will be eased; U.N. inspectors will be allowed to visit Iran's facilities at will. The experts further concluded that in September, two months ahead of the U.S. presidential elections, the world will find that Iran had pulled one on the West. After the simulation, Prof. Litvak, who represented Iran in the exercise, emphasized that Iran would never accept such a deal because a dictatorship such as the one in place in Tehran cannot allow itself to cave in; it would be considered a humiliation. The audience exited the hall with the feeling that the international community is eager to reach an agreement, while Iran is trying to deceive the world. And Israel? Sooner or later Israel will have to decide whether or not to attack Iran. The simulation exercise also indicated that Washington and the world are not intending to use military force. The main conclusion was that while Israel has succeeded in dragging the world into imposing a round of tough sanctions, it will ultimately have to decide alone whether to strike.
