Establishment of the Iranian Research Center on the Silk Road at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran

The Shahid Beheshti University of Tehran, Iran has established the Iranian Research Center on the Silk Roads. The Center is a scientific and academic institution, and a unique academic research center in Iran to focus on the Silk Roads. It is established with close cooperation between Shahid Beheshti University, Iranian National Commission for UNESCO, and the Centre for International Research and Education of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The establishment of this Center is also made possible thanks to the efforts of Mr Hassan Bastani Rad, the Assistant Professor in the Department of History of Shaid Beheshti University and the Iranian focal point to the International Network for the UNESCO Silk Roads Online Platform.

The center will run on two scientific groups: the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies on the Silk Roads, as well as the Department of Common Heritages of the Silk Roads.  The Center aims to research on Iran’s role and relationships with neighboring countries in Central Asia, Caucasia, the Persian Gulf, as well as other countries along the Silk Roads. The scope of the center’s studies will include regions along the overland and maritime Silk Roads as well as past, present and future issues related to cultural, social, economic and political developments of these regions. The research results in domestic projects and international collaborations will be published annually in specialized books and scientific journals and, eventually, on the Silk Roads Online Platform. Further, the Center aims to host and support national and international conferences on issues related to the Silk Roads.

The establishment of the Center is in line with Iran’s historic role along the Silk Roads as a crossroads of culture and trade. Iran has also participated in various international initiatives, including the UNESCO Integral Study of the Silk Roads, Roads of Dialogue (1988-1997), as well as the Silk Roads Online Platform, of which it has been a member since 2015. Through this Center, Iran hopes to reinforce its collaborations with UNESCO in the field of the Silk Roads and contribute to the achievement of the Silk Roads Online Platform’s goals of promoting the Intercultural Dialogue and sustainable peace along the Silk Roads.