Iran

By Ali Mirchi, Oklahoma State University; Amir AghaKouchak, University of California, Irvine; Kaveh Madani, United Nations University, and Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; United Nations University (The Conversation) – Fall marks the start of Iran’s rainy season, but large parts of the country have barely seen a drop as the nation faces one of its […]

Iran

“All the Saints and Sages:” FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:25

Juan Cole

Quatrain no. 25 in the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s translation of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is about the futility of metaphysical teachings in the face of certain death. XXV. Why, all the Saints and Sages who discuss’d Of the Two Worlds so learnedly, are thrust Like foolish Prophets forth; their Words to Scorn […]

Iran

“Your Reward is Neither Here nor There!” FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:24

Juan Cole

Stanza no. 24 in the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s translation of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám makes fun, as A. J. Arberry pointed out, of theologians and philosophers who spoke of metaphysical certainties. Personally, I think there is something almost Buddhist about it (see below). XXIV. Alike for those who for to-day prepare, And […]

Iran

The Dawn that Never Broke: The Unresolved Israel-Iran War

Middle East Monitor

by Kiavash Kalhor and Mahdi Niksefat Motlagh ( Middle East Monitor ) – The dawn following 13 June brought no victory for Israel. The twelve-day war between Iran and Israel did not culminate in an Israeli triumph or an “Iranian eclipse.” Instead, evidence suggests both sides concluded the first round in a strategic, fifty-fifty […]

Climate Crisis

What Policies Can Help Solve Iran’s Climate-Driven Water Shortage?

The Conversation

By Sanam Mahoozi, City St George’s, University of London and Nima Shokri, United Nations University (The Conversation) – Iran is facing its most severe water crisis in more than six decades. Major dams supplying drinking water to provinces with millions of residents are nearly empty, and groundwater reserves have been depleted. Many cities have endured […]

Featured

Iran: A Visionary Life to Remember

Fariba Amini

Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – My brother Mohammad Amini was a revolutionary and an early leader of the Confederation of Iranian Students, perhaps the largest student movement in the world. He was a Maoist who over time turned into a nationalist. Our parents were married by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then a simple […]

Archaeology

A Roman emperor grovelling to a Persian King: A new Statue in Tehran

The Conversation

By Peter Edwell, Macquarie University (The Conversation) – A new statue unveiled in recent days in Iran depicts a Roman emperor in subjection to a Persian king. Erected in Tehran’s Enghelab Square, the statue titled Kneeling Before Iran shows the emperor grovelling before Shapur I (who ruled around 242–270 CE). But where did this imagery […]

Climate Crisis

Will Climate Change force Tehran to Evacuate?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian landed himself in hot water on November 6 by broaching the possibility of having to evacuate Iran’s capital, Tehran, if the current water shortage is not alleviated. He said, “If it does not rain in Tehran by December, we should ration water; if it still does […]

Iran

“Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend:” FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:23

Juan Cole

In Quatrain no. 23 in the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s translation of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, we find an explicit denial of the afterlife. This denial is repeated throughout the poetry, and it surely was one of the more challenging themes in this poetry for Victorian Britain and the United States. Of course, […]