Jonathon Price is the deputy director of the Aspen Strategy Group, which administers the Aspen Ministers Forum.
The most recent round of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, which took place in Kazakhstan, seems to have made little progress in the ongoing nuclear crisis with the country. As the international community takes a step back to assess the talks and plan a way forward, the need for new ideas and continued dialogue has never been more important. Against this backdrop, the Aspen Ministers Forum—an initiative of former foreign ministers created to foster a more collaborative transatlantic exchange—grappled with the question of how its unique group could promote the ongoing efforts.
In March, the forum, in partnership with the Bertelsmann Foundation and led by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, brought 25 former foreign ministers from around the globe to meet in Marrakech, Morocco. The group delved into the complexities of the Iranian nuclear situation. Even with the wide range of voices present, the ministers reached a consensus on the need for a negotiated settlement, the necessity of preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, and a call for action by China, Russia, and the United States to put their full weight behind efforts to ensure the success of the talks. The ministers captured these points of consensus in a public statement on Iran to show the unity of the international community in propelling the negotiations forward. View the statement below:
