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Our board includes leaders with a depth of practical experience in issues of economic development, economic diplomacy, and economic justice in the Middle East and Central Asia. The foundation was established with three board members. The size of the board will expand as the foundation grows.
Ellie Geranmayeh is a senior policy fellow and deputy head of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. She specialises in European foreign policy in relation to Iran, particularly on the nuclear and regional dossiers and sanctions policy.
Geranmayeh advised European governments and companies on the nuclear negotiations between Iran and world powers from 2013-2015 and continues to brief senior policy makers on how to effectively safeguard the implementation of the nuclear agreement. Her research focus also covers wider regional dynamics including post-ISIS stabilisation and geopolitical trends in the Middle East.
Prior to joining ECFR, Geranmayeh worked at Herbert Smith Freehills law firm. She graduated in Law from the University of Cambridge.
Pirouzan Parvine is a partner in the Corporate and M&A practice of Dentons Europe LLP. Based in Paris, he has more than 20 years’ experience providing quality legal advice in markets in transition across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
To respond to the growing demand for advice on legal matters pertaining to Iran following the lifting of UN sanctions in 2016, Pirouzan set up and led Dentons Europe LLP’s Iran Desk. The team quickly developed into a market leader in advising international clients on investing and operating safely and legally within the Iranian market, as well as on market exit and wind down of business operations.
Pirouzan is consistently ranked in Chambers Global and The Legal 500 EMEA as a leading lawyer in his field. He is a French-qualified lawyer, a graduate of Sorbonne University as well as Duke Law School, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.
A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, Pirouzan is a member of the Europe Women’s Advancement Committee at Dentons, and has been active in mentoring talented women lawyers to partnership.
Djavad Salehi‐Isfahani received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 1977. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Virginia Tech, where he is currently Professor of Economics. He is a Research Affiliate at the Middle East Initiative at the Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School, Research Fellow at the Economic Research Forum (ERF) in Cairo, and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Iranian Economic Association.
He was a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Global Economy and Development, the Brookings Institution 2009-2021, served on the Board of Trustees of the Economic Research Forum in Cairo, the Middle East Economic Association, and as Associate Editor of the Middle East Development Journal.
His current research is on economic inequality and economics of the family in the Middle East. His opinion pieces have appeared in Al Monitor, Brookings, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Los Angeles Times, Lobelog.com, Project Syndicate, and the New York Times.
Peter Tejler is a retired Swedish diplomat with deep experience in the Middle East and Central Asia, including posts as ambassador to Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. He has also been posted as deputy chief of mission to Syria and Washington D.C. Between 1991 and 1994 he was head of the Swedish Foreign Minister’s office. Between 2003 and 2008, Tejler led the Middle East and North Africa Department at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. From 2008 to 2012 he was Sweden’s ambassador to South Africa and a few more countries in that region. From 2012 to 2016 Tejler was Sweden’s ambassador to Iran.
After leaving the Swedish foreign service in 2016, Tejler was appointed senior advisor at Magnusson, a leading Swedish law firm with global operations including in the Middle East, a position he held until 2018. Since retirement, Tejler has also headed several election observation missions (EOM) of the OSCE/ODIHR. In 2016, he led the EOM to Uzbekistan and in 2020 to Azerbaijan. He is a graduate of the universities of Uppsala and Lund.
