The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies has launched a specialized unit in Iranian studies, to carry out in-depth studies, research and analysis on Iranian affairs and their linkage to Arab concerns.

The Iranian Studies Unit will focus on two basic tasks: researching the diversity and complexity of Arab-Iranian relations in the fields of history, demography, philosophy, economics, politics, international relations and culture; and contributing to bridging the prevailing gaps in knowledge about Iran (regarding the country’s society and institutions) encountered in Arab academies and research centers.

The Unit will seek to create a database of analyses, data on key indicators and statistical research published internationally on Iran, to be made available to specialists and people interested in Iranian affairs. In addition to this informational aspect, the unit will seek to address its subject matter through a raft of activities including an annual academic conference convening Iranian affairs research specialists – Arabs, non-Arabs, and Iranians from both inside and outside Iran – to address a specific topic each year. Conference themes will be related to dimensions of Iranian foreign policy and their interlinkage with regional and international relations (and in the forefront, relations with the Arab world), or to a particular Iranian domestic political, social or economic issue, as well as to other topics falling within the remit of the Arab Center and the Unit. The Unit will also arrange a lecture series with periodic talks presented by prominent specialists in Iranian affairs. The Unit is also to launch a translation project between Arabic and Persian, offering Arab readers access to prominent works published in Persian, especially those that fall within the scope of social sciences, and introducing Persian readers to a number of key Arabic works.