Reza Zia-Ebrahimi, “The Emergence of Iranian ...

As World War II raged in North Africa, General Erwin Rommel was guided by an uncanny sense of his enemies' plans and weaknesses. In the summer of 1942, he led his Axis army swiftly and terrifyingly toward Alexandria, with the goal of overrunning the entire Middle East. Each step ...  Show more

Adam Bursi’s Traces of the Prophets: Relics and Sacred Spaces in Early Islam (Edinburg University Press, 2024) uses writings by early Muslims to map a history of material objects, relics, and tombs of prophetic figures as they were conceptualized in the 8th and 9th centuries. The ...  Show more

The last 300 years have shaped Russia-Iran relations as a strategic alliance of convenience. Russia’s current aggression in Ukraine subsequently held hostage the Iran Nuclear Deal to secure its own interests. This critical juncture reflects the history of pressure and tension ...

Persia was the first great superpower. The empire built by Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes and the rest of the Achaemenids stretched from India in the east to the Mediterranean in the west, from Russia in the north to the Gulf of Oman in the south. It laid the foundation for empires of the ...  Show more

In 1979, Iran’s pro-Western Shah was overthrown by Ayatollah Khomeini, ushering in the Iranian Revolution and Iran’s shift to an Islamic Republic. But the hope many people thought Khomeini represented, quickly soured as his zeal led to increasing amounts of oppression. And despit ...  Show more

With the Last Shah’s reforms - known as the White Revolution - starting to take effect, Iran looked to be in a healthy position. Economic growth is strong, Tehran is a thriving cultural centre, and women now had the vote. Before long, however, the economy began to overheat and in ...  Show more