ADVISORY/The Hoover Institution presents the conference: Politics, Society, and Economy in a Changing Iran.

News Editors/Education Writers

ADVISORY...for Thurs. & Fri. (May 20 & 21)

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi will be featured speaker May

20-21, 2004 at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Politics, Society and Economy in a Changing Iran will be addressed in a two-day conference, May 20-21, at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

In addition to a full agenda of topics, including the political landscape in Iran today, constitutional reform, Iranian culture and the question of democracy, religion and politics, the economy, and the mass media, the conference will feature

                             Shirin Ebadi,
                recipient of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize
             who will speak on May 20 at a special dinner

Conference organizers are Hoover Senior Fellow Larry Diamond, who has worked as a senior adviser on democracy for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, and Hoover Research Fellow Abbas Milani, a visiting professor in political science at Stanford. The conference is part of the Hoover Institution Iran Democracy Project.

Issues on the agenda include:

    May 20, Thursday:
    The Political Landscape in Iran today
    Constitutional Reform
    Iranian Culture and the Question of Democracy
    The Mass Media

    May 21, Friday:
    Religion and Politics
    Religious and Ethnic Minorities
    The Economy and the Question of Democracy
    Concluding Roundtable on U.S.-Iranian Relations

Speakers during the two days include George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of State and Hoover Distinguished Fellow; journalist Emad Baghi of Tehran; Hossein Bashiriye, professor of law at Tehran University; poet Simin Behbahani, Hormoz Hekmat, editor of IranNameh, Tehran journalist Ali Reza Jefai; Abdolkarim Soroush, visiting professor at Princeton University; Khanbaba Tehrani, founding member of Iranians for a Republic, and Azam Teleghani, former member of the Iranian parliament.

SPECIAL SPEAKER AND EVENT:

Ms. Shirin Ebadi, who received the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, will speak the evening of May 20 to conference attendees and guests at a special dinner at the Crowne Plaza Cabana-Palo Alto.

Her remarks will be delivered in Farsi and consecutively translated. Her talk will start at 7:15 p.m. and conclude by 8 p.m.

IMPORTANT MEDIA NOTE:

Due to severe space constraints during the day on May 20 and 21, ONLY print and radio media representatives will be allowed to cover the conference sessions at the Hoover Institution.

However, television cameras, along with print and radio representatives, are welcome at the dinner talk by Shirin Ebadi at the Crowne Plaza Cabana-Palo Alto.

No exceptions will be made.

RESERVATIONS: Working press only may reserve space for coverage by telephoning the Hoover Institution Public Affairs Office at 650-723-0603 before May 20.