The Eurasian International Society for Iranian Studies will open in early fall, according to the Iranian cultural attaché in Moscow, Reza Maleki.
Based in Moscow, the society will coordinate research in Iranian studies that is being conducted across the vast continents of Asia and Europe, IRNA quoted Maleki as saying.
The official visited the Institute of Oriental Studies affiliated to the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, which undertakes a series of studies on the countries and cultures of Asia as well as North Africa. He had a meeting with some of the institute's experts and officials, including Nina Mamedova, head of the Iran section.
Maleki spoke of the background of Iran studies in Russia and referred to the upcoming Eurasian conference to be hosted by Moscow. It will be attended by several Iranologists from Europe and Central Asian states, Iran and Russia. The conference will be a launching pad for the new society for Iranian studies, he added.
Mamedova appreciated the efforts and planning for Iran studies by the Iranian Embassy and presented a report of the section's activities that included scientific and research projects, Persian language learning programs and counseling services to researchers and enthusiasts.
Other experts of the institute present at the meeting were senior researchers, Professor Vladimir Sazhin and Elena Victorovna Dunaeva, Persian-language lecturer Lana Ravandi-Fadai and Qorbanali Idrissov, supervisor of Iranology Foundation, a Tehran-based scientific and research association established in 1997. They reviewed the latest achievements in Iran studies.
Significant Hub
Once operational, the Eurasian society will have support of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow International Iranian Studies Foundation, the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University and the European Society for Iranian Studies (Societas Iranologica Europaea) founded in 1983 in Rome.
Russia is considered a major hub of Iranian studies, where hundreds of specialists in Iran's history, culture, art and literature have created referable corpora and are exploring areas of their expertise.
