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A who’s who of the Iranian diaspora will meet at Uber HQ on Saturday to discuss tech and the future of Iran, according to an email about the event viewed by 404 Media. The guest list includes venture capitalists, angel investors, tech CEOs, and the son of Iran’s former leader who was deposed almost 50 years ago.
On Friday afternoon, people representing the group of Iranian business leaders cold-emailed invitations for the event to journalists. “This Saturday, a private conference on the future of Iran will take place at Uber Headquarters in San Francisco, bringing together leaders in technology, finance, and geopolitics for an off-the-record discussion on Iran’s future and regional developments,” the email said. “Featured speakers include Reza Pahlavi, Dara Khosrowshahani, Shervin Pishevar, and Hamid Moghadam. The event waitlist has already surpassed 2,000 applicants.”
Khosrowshahani is the CEO of Uber; Moghadam is the CEO of San Francisco-based investment trust Prologis; Pishevar was the former CEO of HyperLoop and an angel investor who put money into companies like Uber, Airbnb, Slack, and Robinhood; and Pahlavi is the former Crown Prince of Iran, the son of the Shah deposed during the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Also attending will be a SpaceX engineer, a Tesla engineer, and the senior global commodity manager at Nvidia, according to the invite.
It’s unclear what exactly these elite members of the Iranian diaspora will discuss on Saturday morning. The schedule calls for a 9:30 a.m. reception followed by 30 minutes for “strategic rebuild,” 30 minutes for “future tech,” and 30 minutes for “internet” before concluding with an “open dialogue.”
The meeting is called the “Tech X Future of Iran” and the flyer with guests and schedule included a pre-Islamic Republic version of the Iranian flag. Pahlavi, a complicated and controversial figure, has lived most of his life outside of Iran. He has stated repeatedly that if he returned to lead, he would only do so as a bridge to democratic rule.
“Millions of Iranians inside Iran and outside the country are calling my name,” he told 60 Minutes earlier this year. “They recognize in me the person uniquely placed to play a role of transitional leadership. Not running for office, because that’s not what I’m doing, but to be a bridge to that destiny.”
But for Pahlavi to enter Iran or any of these tech moguls to see their ambitions fulfilled, much has to happen. Iran is still in the war and it’s unclear when it will end. Tehran controls the Strait of Hormuz and has been hitting US allies and military bases in the region. Reports from U.S. intelligence agencies indicate that Tehran still has 70 percent of its missile launchers and pre-war missile inventory, meaning it can fight the US for months. It also still has all its nuclear material, and recovering it without a peace deal would be a deadly and costly operation.
A representative for “Tech X Future of Iran” did not return 404 Media’s request for comment.
Key Takeaways
- The event is a private conference at Uber HQ in San Francisco, featuring tech and finance leaders discussing the future of Iran.
- Speakers include Reza Pahlavi (former Crown Prince), Dara Khosrowshahani (CEO of Uber), Shervin Pishevar (HyperLoop CEO), and Hamid Moghadam (Prologis CEO).
- The event has already attracted over 2,000 applicants.
- It’s unclear what specific discussions will take place during the conference.
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