Even as the policy debate has intensified over Iran, the struggle of Iranians to advance democracy and human rights under increasingly repressive conditions is too often being overlooked.

Iran increasingly dominates international newspaper headlines and foreign policy agendas, but its people and regime remain poorly understood in the West.

Only one month following the start of Iran’s civilian uprising, Carnegie joined forces with PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center for New York City’s first public discussion about the recent events in this pivotal Middle Eastern country.

On June 12 Iranians will vote in the country’s tenth presidential election since 1979. Incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be challenged in his bid for re-election by three well-known Iranian political figures.