Iran in the Nazi New Order, 1933–1941

Despite a succession of scholarly studies over the years, the relationship between Reza Shah’s Iran and National Socialist Germany has not been fully explored. Rather than focusing on the supposed Aryan ideological sympathies that bound the two countries together, this article argues that the real driver of the German–Iranian relationship in the 1930s was economic and based in the mutual interaction of state economic initiatives. It states that Iran’s place in Nazism’s economic system was the outcome of two factors: the “New Plan” of Reich Economics Minister Hjalmar Schacht, and its focus on clearing agreements as a motor for depression-era trade, and the connections of Schacht’s system to Reza Shah’s strategy to modernize Iran. In exploring this issue the article focuses on relations between Germany and Iran during three distinct moments: first, the period from 1918 to 1928 and the working out of a new relationship after the First World War; secondly the period of Schacht’s New Plan in Iran in the mid-1930s; and finally the period from the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939 to the British–Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941. During this last period Iran both belonged to the Nazi–Soviet trade zone created by the Pact and attempted to defend its neutrality.     

Psychoanalyzing Iran: Kennedy's Iran Task Force and the Modernization of Orientalism, 1961–3

Between 1961 and 1963, a political crisis in Iran prompted U.S. foreign-policy makers to briefly consider supporting political reform that would have pushed the Shah toward a more constitutional role and moved Iran toward democracy. Yet Washington instead decided to bolster the Shah's regime to carry out social and economic reforms that coalesced as the Shah's White Revolution in 1963. Policy-makers relied in part on a psychological profile of Iran to shape their decisions, believing that the Iranian people were psychologically unprepared to rule, and that the Shah was psychologically unprepared to give up power. This article encourages diplomatic historians to explore how the language and ideas of psychology influenced the modernization theories and policies that U.S. policy-makers applied to Iran, the Middle East, and the wider ‘Third World.’ After briefly exploring the history of U.S. racial, religious, and cultural perceptions of Iran - many of which fit traditional stereotypes of Orientalism - the article examines the influence of political and developmental psychology at a time when racial and religious bias were increasingly taboo. Psychology offered more acceptable, scientific ways to understand Iran and the Middle East, though it led to familiar conclusions. While attempting to modernize Iran, policy-makers modernized Orientalism.     

The Press and Public Diplomacy in Iran, 1820–1940

The under-appreciated role of the press as a tool of public diplomacy was rooted in its origins as a Qajar state project in the nineteenth century, but also cultivated by a shared impulse of Iranian journalists and statesmen to represent Iran effectively in the court of world opinion. Moreover, foreign governments often reacted to the Iranian press generally, not just the official newspapers and not just newspapers produced in Iran, as a forum though which to advance or protect their interests in Iran. The Pahlavi state integrated the press as part of a larger state-run mass communication policy in the 1930s that would eventually include new technologies such as radio, and retained public diplomacy as an essential purpose of the media. This study draws upon archival material, press accounts, and memoirs.     

The Energy Factor in Iran–Turkmenistan Relations

The collapse of the Soviet Union brought about major upheavals in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Among the newly independent states, those that were endowed with energy resources set out on the path of economic growth. The energy resources in Central Asia also attracted outside powers to the region. Moreover, the status of these countries as landlocked, and Russia's monopoly over energy pipelines, led these countries to search for new partners in order to reduce their dependency. This added a new dimension to the political, economic and security equations of the region. In this article, Turkmenistan is studied as a former Soviet republic and Iran as a regional actor that has interests in the region's energy dynamics. The role of energy in the relations between Turkmenistan and Iran is examined. The article proposes that the energy factor has produced a favorable atmosphere for closer relations between the two countries. However, Tehran needs to overcome a number of challenges in expansion of its relations with Turkmenistan, the most important of which is the United States' effective opposition to any Iranian initiative in the field of energy in the region.     

Historical works relating to the Qajar era published in Iran, 1996–2001

Historical Works Relating to the Qajar Era Published in Iran, 1996–2001

Mabani‐yi nazari‐yi hukūmat‐i mashrūtah va mashrū'ah, bih inzimam‐i rasa'il‐i ‘ulama‐yi muvafig va mukhalif‐i mashrūtah, Husayn Abadian. Tehran: Nashr‐i nay, 1374/1995, no ISBN.

Majlis va intikhabat az mashrūtah ta payan‐i Qajariyah, Mansoureh Ettehadieh, (Nezam Mafi). Tehran: Nashr‐i tarikh‐i Iran, 1375/1996. ISBN 964–6082–02–5.

Rūznameh‐i khatirat‐i Ghulam ‘Ati Khan ‘Aziz al‐Sultan, (Malijak), 4 vols., ed. Muhsin Mirza'i, Tehran: Intisharat‐i zaiyab, 1376/1997. ISBN 964–6339–04–2.

Isti'mar‐i Britaniya va mas'ala‐i Arvand Rūd, Firuz Mansuri. Tehran: Mu'assasa‐i mutali'at‐i tarikh‐i mu'asir‐i Iran, 1376/1997, no ISBN.

Asnad‐i ‘Abd al‐Mahhab Khan Asif al‐Dawla, 2 vols., ed. ‘Abd al‐Husayn Nava'i and Nilufar Kasri, Tehran: Mu'assasa‐i mutali'at‐i tarikh‐i mu'asir‐i Iran, 1377 /1998. ISBN 964–6357–13‐X.

Rūznameh'i khatirat‐i Sharaf al‐Dawla, Mirza Ebrahim Khan‐i kalantari‐yi Baghmisheh, ed. Yahya Zoka. Tehran: Intisharat‐i fikr‐i ruz, 1377/1998. ISBN 964–5838–80–0.

Inja Tihran ast: Majmū'a‐i maqalati dar‐bareh‐yi Tihran, 1269–1344 HQ (1852–1925), Mansoureh Ettehadieh (Nezam Mafi), Tehran: Nashr‐i tarikh‐i Iran, 1377/1998. ISBN 964–6082–07–6.

Az mashrūtah ta jumhūri: Nigahi bih advar‐i Majlis‐i qanūnguzari dar dawran‐i mashrūfiyat, Yunes Morvarid, 2 vols. Tehran: Nashr‐i ahadi, 1377/1998. ISBN 964–6376–08–8.

Hujūm‐i Rūs va iqdamat‐i ru'asa‐yi din bara‐yi hifz‐i Iran, Sayyid Hasan Nizam al‐Din, ed. Nasrallah Salihizadeh. Tehran: Shirazeh, 1377/1998. ISBN 964–6578–13‐X.

Asnad‐i Pūst va Telegraf va Telefun dar Dawra‐i Riza Shah, ed. Marziyeh Yazdani. Tehran: Sazman‐i asnad‐i milli, 1378/1999. ISBN 964–6189–27‐X.

Zindagani‐yi siyasi‐yi Nasir al‐Mulk, Ramin Yalfani. Tehran: Mu'assasa‐i mutala'at‐i tarikh‐i mu'asir‐i Iran, 1376/1998. ISBN 964–6357–02–4.

Nusrat al‐Dawla, Majmū'a‐i mukatabat, asnad, khatirat‐i Firūz Mirza Firūz, ed. Mansoureh Ettehadieh, (Nezam Mafi), and So'ad Pira. Tehran: Ketab‐i siyamak, Nashr‐i tarikh‐i Iran, 1378/1999. ISBN 964–6141–27–7.

Zindagani‐yi siyasi, sūrat‐i jalisat, mukatabat va murasalat, Riza Quli Khan Nizam al Saltana, ed. Mansoureh Ettehadieh, 3 vols. Tehran: Ketab‐i siyamak, Nashr‐i tarikh‐i Iran, 1379/2000. ISBN 964–6141–27–7(vol. 1), 964–6141–34‐X (vol. 2), 964–6141–35–8 (vol. 3).

Chalish‐i sunnat va moderniteh dar Iran, az mashrūtah ta 1320 S., Muhammad Salari Kasrai. Tehran: Nashr‐i markaz, 1379/ 2000. ISBN 964–305–543–4.

Nameh‐ha‐i az Tabriz az Siqat al‐Islam bih Mustashar al‐Dawla dar rūzegar‐i mashrūtiyat, ed. Iraj Afshar. Tehran: Nashr‐i pazhuhish‐i farzan‐i ruz, 1378/1999. ISBN 964–6138–47–0.

Asnadi az madaris‐i dukhtaran az mashrūtah ta Pahlavi, ed. Soheila Torabi Farsani. Tehran: Sazman‐i asnad‐i milli, 1378/1999. ISBN 964–6189–31–8.

Dar takapū‐yi taj va takht: Asnad‐i Abū'l‐Fath Mirza Salar al‐Dawla Qajar, ed. Riza Azari. Tehran: Sazman‐i asnad‐i milli, 1378/ 1999. ISBN 964–6189–34–2.

Tahavvulat‐i farhangi‐yi Iran dar dawra‐i Qajariya va madrasa‐i Dar al‐Funūn. Tehran: Mu'asassa‐i jughrafiya'i va kartugrafi'a‐yi Sahab, 1379/2000. ISBN 964–6556–29–9.

Mashahir‐i matbū'at‐i Iran: I'timad al‐Saltana, Sayyid Farid Qasimi, vol. 1. Tehran: Sazman‐i ‘hap va intisharat‐i Vizarat‐i Farhang va Irshad‐i Islami, 1379/2000. ISBN 964–422–195‐X.

Sūr‐i Israfil va ‘Ati Akbar‐i Dihkhuda: yak barrasi‐yi tarikhi va adabi, Kamyar ‘Abidi. Tehran: Kitab‐i nadir, 1379/ 2000. ISBN 964–92557–6–1.

Ravabit‐i siyasi‐i iqti?adi‐yi Iran va Alman bayn‐i dū jang, Fatemeh Pira, Tehran: Markaz‐i asnad‐i inqilab‐i Islami, 1379/2000. ISBN 964–6196–83–7.

Marja'iyat dar ‘arsah‐yi ijtima'i va siyasat: Asnad va guzarish‐ha'i az Ayat‐i A'zam Na'ini, Isfahani, Qumi, Ha'iri va Burūjirdi, 1292 S ‐1339 (1875–1920), ed. Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Manzur al‐Ajdad. Tehran: Shirazeh, 1379/2000. ISBN 964–6578–54–3

Yazd dar asnad‐i Amin al‐Zarb, ed. Dr Asghar Mahdavi and Iraj Afshar. Tehran: Farhang‐i Iran‐Zamin, 1380/ 2001. ISBN 964–5623–81–2.

Asnad‐i tijarat‐i Iran dar sal‐i 1287 gamari, ed. Asghar Mahdavi and Iraj Afshar. Tehran: Intisharat‐i ‘ilmi farhangi, 1380S/2001. ISBN 964–445–184–8.

Urumiyah dar muharaba‐i ‘alamsūz az muqaddima‐i Nisara ta Balva‐yi Isma'il Aqa, 1298–1300 Sh, Rahmatallah Mu'tamid al‐Vizara, ed. Kaveh Bayat. Tehran: Shirazeh, 1379S/ 2000. ISBN 964–6578–46–2.

Azarbayjan dar mawj khiz‐i tarikh: nigahi bih mabahis‐i milliyūn‐i Iran va jarayid‐i Bakū dar taghyir‐i nam‐i Aran bih Azarbayjan, 1296–1298 S, ed. Kaveh Bayat, Tehran: Shirazeh, 1379/2000. ISBN 964–6578–55–1.

Tarikh‐i rūznameh nigari‐yi Iranian va digar‐i parsi navisan, 2 vols. (Paydayish), (Buhran‐i azadi), Nasir al‐Din Parvin. Tehran: Markaz‐i nashr‐i danishgahi, 1377/1998, 1379/ 2000. ISBN 964–01–8156–0.

Nuzhat al‐akhbar: tarikh va jughrafiya‐yi Fars, Mirza Ja'far Khan Haqa'iq Nigar, ed. Sayyid ‘Ali Al‐i Davud. Tehran: Kitabkhaneh‐yi muzeh va markaz‐i asnad‐i Majlis‐i Shura‐yi Islami, 1380/ 2001. ISBN 964–422–218–0.

Khatirat va asnad‐i Muhammad ‘Ali Ghaffari: Tarikh‐i Ghaffari, volume 3, ed. Abbas Zare'i Mehrvarz. Tehran: Nashr‐i tarikh‐i Iran, 1380/ 2001. ISBN 964–6082–03–3.

Khatirat‐i Shaykh Ibrahim Zanjani: Sarguzasht‐i zindagani‐yi man, ed. Ghulam Husayn Mirza Salih. Tehran: Entesharat‐i kabir, 1380/ 2001. ISBN 964–6144–54–3.

Rūznameh‐yi khatirat‐i ‘Ayn al‐Saltana, Qahriman Mirza Salūr, ed. Mas'ud Salur and Iraj Afshar, 10 vols. Tehran: Asatir,1374–1380/ 1995–2001. ISBN 964–331–191–0.     

Miocene scleractinian corals from a mixed siliciclastic–carbonate system: Bakhtiari succession,Zagros Basin (central-western Iran)

Colonial scleractinian corals were sampled from three levels within a Miocene marine unit of the Bakhtiari succession, Zagros Basin, central-western Iran. The first two coral-bearing intervals, A and B, contain small-scale scattered colonies and show a poor coral diversity, whereas the third, consisting of a strongly lithified limestone package, reflects a well-developed biostromal framework with higher coral skeletal volume within the Bakhtiari succession. The Bakhtiari succession coral assemblages are characterized by Porites sp. cf. P. maigensis, Porites sp. cf. P. mancietensis, Porites sp. cf. P. collegniana, Tarbellastraea reussiana, Favia sp., Montastrea sp. cf. P. tchihatcheffi, Favites sp. cf. P. neugeboreni, Favites sp. cf. P. neuvillei, Agathiphyllia sp. and Acropora sp. Sedimentological and palaeontological data indicate that the depositional environment is consistent with a mixed carbonate–siliciclastic ramp that was gently deepening basinwards from the shoreline. The hemispherical and massive growth forms of colonies and sparse branching forms dominated the well-illuminated euphotic zone. Abundant domestone and dense pillarstone coral growth fabrics interdigitating with coarse-grained terrigenous sediments developed in the shallow inner ramp environment. Branching forms and meandroid branching colonies together with some massive forms mostly inhabited the low-energy conditions of the lower euphotic to oligophotic zones of the middle ramp. In the middle parts of the mixed carbonate–siliciclastic ramp, sparse pillarstone together with domestone comprises a mixstone coral growth fabric. Fluctuations in nutrient and clastic sediment input, salinity and the growth of red algae likely terminated coral growth.     

Good Iranian,Bad Iranian: Representations of Iran and Iranians in Time and Newsweek (1998–2009)

This article analyzes the ways in which Iran and Iranians are represented in Western news media sources. Through detailed textual analysis of articles in Time and Newsweek between 1998 and 2009, it demonstrates that journalistic representations of Iran and Iranians are not simply efforts aimed at describing the real Iran, but rather form the basis of what Said refers to as a powerful “community of interpretation” that often reflects and reproduces certain xenophobic stereotypes of non-Western foreign subjects. While some shifts in Western media representations of Iranians have occurred in the thirty years since the revolution, the underlying ontological assumptions of these representations have remained remarkably durable. That is to say, the dominant representational discourse found in these newsmagazines depicts the political behavior of Iranians on the basis of essentialized notions of Persian and/or Islamic civilization, while very often emphasizing the taken for granted superiority of the West. Earlier Orientalist discourses focus on the difference of non-Western foreign subjects by denigrating them as fundamentally anti-modern and incapable of political, cultural and economic development without Western intervention. This article presents an unmistakable discursive pattern in American journalism whereby certain Iranians are incorporated into Western civilization by virtue of their embrace of a Western modernity.     

Effecting Equality: Norwegian Health Policy in Finnmark, 1945–1970s

Abstract

At the heart of “the Nordic model of welfare” is a strong will for national integration and social equality between citizens and regions. It is commonly held that that “homogeneity ethnic” is one explanatory factor behind the Nordic model of welfare. On the contrary, we claim that it is the political will to treat the population as homogeneous that influenced the creation of the model, not any factual ethnic homogeneity (which is, after all, a historical fiction, also in the Nordic context). Thus, the pursuit of integration and the strive for regional equality have challenged local autonomy and cultural diversity while at the same time underpinned arguments for a regionalization of politics and, to some extent, for ethnic particularization. Drawn between a strong state and local authority, universalism and particularization, welfare and health policies have reshaped the relationship between center and peripheries and between the majority and ethnic minorities.

The integration of the county of Finnmark into the national system of institutionalized welfare in Norway after World War II constitutes a good case to investigate not only the will, but also the ability, for national integration and equalization along the dimensions of centre–periphery and majority–minority relations, not only because of the county's position furthest to the north, but also because it held the largest minority populations. This article examines Norwegian policies to establish and effect equality between Finnmark and other regions in the field of health care facilities from 1945 until the 1970s, and the attempts to establish equal access to health services between the Sámi minority and the Norwegian majority population in Finnmark. It sheds light upon how the immanent conflict between the ideals of a national, universal welfare policy and particular measures in favor of the Sámi was conceived in the period. (The authors expected multi-culturality to be clearly visible in the sources. It was, but only with regard to one minority group, the Sámi. The Kvens were not discussed by the policy-makers in the period.) Furthermore, it has been argued that in the shaping and implementation of Norwegian health policies in the first years after World War II, primacy was given to expert knowledge. A particular point of interest in this article is how this primacy manifested itself in the choices of political strategies of universalism and particularism within the field of health policy in this particular geographical setting.     

Promoting the Advancement of Women: Baha'i Schools for Girls in Iran, 1909–35

In the early twentieth century, Iranian Baha'is were at the forefront of efforts to promote modern schooling for girls in Iran. Using previously untapped published primary sources and archival records, this article examines the history of the Baha'i schools for girls in the context of modern schooling of Iranian girls and assesses their contribution to female education in Iran. This contribution was significant and all the more remarkable considering the Iranian Baha'is’ numbers and resources and the restrictions under which they operated. Most notably, in the spring of 1933, less than two years before the forced closure of Baha'i schools by the Pahlavi state, 4 percent of all females in Iran's accredited schools were enrolled in Baha'i schools. The Baha'i community's most prestigious school, Tarbīyat-i banāt in Tehran, was by this time Iran's largest girls’ school. Outside Tehran, in some localities, the only girls’ schools were run by Baha'is, and in others a significant portion of all female pupils were enrolled in Baha'i schools.