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The Doha Debates are a unique venture in the Arab world, providing a battleground for conflicting opinions and arguments about the major political topics of the region.
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0710 GMT on Saturday 14th November Repeated: 1510 and 2010 on Saturday 14th, 0110, 0710, 1510 and 2010 GMT on Sunday 15th November |
While governments around the world tighten restrictions on press freedom, the Doha Debates openly dissect the vital issues of the Middle East in front of its people and on global television
The Doha Debates are chaired by the award-winning former BBC correspondent and interviewer Tim Sebastian, who founded them in 2004 and secured their editorial independence.
The Doha Debates are an initiative of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development which is headed by Her Highness, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned.
Past speakers have included President Bill Clinton, Shimon Peres, Amre Moussa, Ayad Allawi, Mahmoud Al Zahar and Sir Malcolm Rifkind.
Most Debates are held at the Qatar Foundation headquarters in Doha.
The Doha Debate on November 15th
'This House Trusts Iran Not To Build A Nuclear Bomb'
SPEAKING FOR THE MOTION
Mohammad Marandi: Iranian Scholar and Commentator, Head of the North American Studies Department at the University of Tehran and regular commentator on Iranian affairs.
Publisher of numerous papers and articles on Iran-US relations and co-author of the book The British Media and Muslim Representation: the Ideology of Demonisation.
Dr. Mahjoob Zweiri: Jordanian expert on Iran and Professor in Middle East Politics and Iran at the Centre for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, where he also serves as the head of the Iranian Studies Unit.
Among other posts he has been director of the Centre for Iranian Studies at Durham University in the UK.
SPEAKING AGAINST THE MOTION
Dr. Alireza Nourizadeh: Iranian scholar and journalist and senior researcher and Director of the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies in London.
He is also a journalist, columnist and commentator for numerous newspapers and media outlets including Voice of America, Kayhan London, Al Jarideh in Kuwait and Al-Sharq alawsat.
As editor in chief of the weekly political magazine Omid Iran, he came to the attention of Ayatollah Khomeini who closed down the publication and ordered Dr. Nourizadeh’s arrest. He later fled to London after receiving death threats.
Baria Alamuddin: Foreign Editor, Al-Hayat, Lebanese journalist and broadcaster. She is currently foreign editor of the newspaper Al-Hayat and editor of the London-based Media Services Syndicate.
She appears regularly on international television, including the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera as a Middle East analyst.
This weekend on BBC World News
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