On February 12, 2020, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazem Jalali, met leading Russian experts in Islamic studies. The meeting was organized upon the initiative of the Ibn Sina Foundation.
Kazem Jalali emphasized the importance of expanding the Russian-Iranian cooperation in the academic and cultural fields, since it can become the basis for the development of relations between Russia and Iran in other areas. He also touched upon joint efforts of the academic communities of both countries that play the major role in this cooperation.
The event was attended by representatives of the RAS Institute of Philosophy, the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies, the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia and the Higher School of Economics.
The representative of the Institute of Philosophy, academician Andre Smirnov and professor Marietta Stepanyants delivered speeches during the event. They noted that the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences had been working together with the Ibn Sina Foundation for the last 13 years. They mentioned the editions that had been jointly published, including a series of books on Islamic philosophy, a textbook on the history of Islamic philosophy and the Ishraq yearbook, as well as a number of jointly conducted conferences and exhibitions.
Leonid Sukiyaynen, professor at the Higher School of Economics, who was representing the legal dimension of Islamic studies, noted that the legal aspect of Islamic studies was not as popular as Eastern philosophy studies. But over the years of cooperation with the Foundation, he published the book “Islam and Human Rights in the Dialogue of Cultures and Religions”, which helps dispel the stereotype about the incompatibility of Islam and human rights. He also expressed his concern about the fact that the representatives as Arab countries were not as active in the development and promotion of Islamic culture as the Ibn Sina Foundation.
Nur Kirabayev, vice-principal for Research and professor at Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, noted that many books on the fight against terrorism and extremism published by the Foundation had been prepared by the authors from the RUDN University. He also highlighted the importance of the Foundation’s support for translations and works of up-and-coming academicians.
Alikber Alikberov, deputy director of the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies, noted that more than 10 books on Orientalism and Islamic studies had been published with the support of the Ibn Sina Foundation. He mentioned that Iranian experts were becoming known in the academic community and in Russia thanks to the joint activities of the Institute and the Ibn Sina Foundation.
All participants noted the successful activities of the Foundation aimed at promoting academic knowledge in the field of Islamic and Iranian studies, and also thanked the president of the Ibn Sina Foundation for the productive cooperation.
The ambassador expressed his gratitude to the participants and emphasized the importance of further cooperation.
