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Focusing on the specific case of knowledge production in and about Iran, in this chapter, we discuss the risk of reproducing a Northern perspective in the attempts to produce knowledge on and through the Global South(s). We argue that such reproduction leads to cognitive suppression, further peripheralization, or even recolonization of the South(s). We also stress the lasting effects of methodological nationalism among attempts at decolonization and its political consequences, such as in the adoption of nativist discourses historically connected to the 'Islamic' Revolution by scholars focusing on the Global South(s) and in area studies concerning Iran. To avoid these effects, we suggest considering the politics of scale in our recognition and problematization of the hierarchization of Northern and Southern sites of knowledge production and their particularities.
Based on morphological and molecular evidence, two new species of Silene are recognized and described here, S. penduliflora F.Jafari, Keshavarzi & Doostm. sp. nov. and S. thyrsiantha F.Jafari, Mirtadz. & Keshavarzi sp. nov. The newly discovered species are distributed in the central and southeastern parts of Iran, growing in rocky habitats. Relationships among these species and their close relatives are demonstrated using nrDNA ITS and cpDNA rps16 phylogenies. Silene ghahremaninejadii, S. parrowiana, and S. shahrudensis form a clade with these new species. A key to S. penduliflora and S. thyrsiantha and their close relatives is provided.
The following four species new to science are described: Platygaster azarbaijanica Buhl & Asadi sp. nov., Platygaster lotfalizadehi Buhl & Asadi sp. nov., Platygaster karimpouri Asadi & Buhl sp. nov. and Synopeas calecai Buhl & Asadi sp. nov. Diagnostic characters are discussed, and figures are provided to distinguish the new species. In addition, ten species of Platygastrinae Howard, 1892 belonging to the genera Platygaster Latreille, 1809, Synopeas Förster, 1856 and Leptacis Förster, 1856 are reported as new records for the fauna of Iran. Four species of Platygaster and one species of Synopeas are recorded as ʻconferʼ.
A non-fundamentalist return to origin: the new Islamic reformers’ methodology of (re)interpretation
(2020)
Focusing on some contemporary Islamic reformers’ solutions, in particular, Abolkarim Soroush, Mohsen Kadivar, and Fazlur Rahman, to concrete issues in Muslim societies, this article examines two different methodological strategies of alternative readings of the Sunna: an archeological one and a genealogical one. In the archeological perspective, the holy text has been considered as a repository of answers to all sorts of questions. Through a pathological analysis, this view suggests solutions to correct distortions and looks for new windows seeking an original interpretation of the Qur’an. The genealogical view, on the other hand, puts aside this pathology and instead insists on the idea of the contingency of any interpretation. Regardless of accuracy and validity, according to the genealogical view, all interpretations have addressed temporal and contextual questions. What is important in this perspective is not returning to an original source for finding the exact message of Allah, or correcting previous interpretations, but recurrently referring to an open-ended text in order to explore the futures of the Qur’an.
New species of Neanura MacGillivray, 1893 and Deutonura Cassagnau, 1979 are described from northern Iran. Both taxa are characterized by unusual features that place them in isolated positions within the genera. Neanura deharvengi sp. nov. differs from congeners by the extreme reduction of head chaetotaxy and fused lateral tubercles on the head. These characteristics of the new species broaden the existing diagnosis of the genus Neanura. An updated diagnosis is provided herein. Deutonura persica sp. nov. is most similar to D. plena (Stach, 1951), known from the Carpathians. The new species can be distinguished by the strong reduction of its head, labial, and labral chaetotaxy as well as the relative length of chaetae De2 and De3 on abdominal segments I–III. The Iranian records of D. decolorata (Gama & Gisin, 1964) are questioned. Brief remarks on the importance of the newly described species for the knowledge of both genera are also provided.
The genus Brachypsectra LeConte, 1874 (Coleoptera: Brachypsectridae) in the Palaearctic Region
(2017)
We summarize all information regarding the genus Brachypsectra (Coleoptera: Brachypsectridae) in the Palaearctic Region. New material of B. kadleci Hájek, 2010 is reported from western and southern Iran and its intraspecific variability in coloration and morphology is described and figured. Brachypsectra jaechi sp. nov. from southern Turkey is described from males, and an unassociated Brachypsectra species from Cyprus is reported, including the descriptions of its female and larva. These findings are the first records of this genus as well as of the family Brachypsectridae for Turkey and Cyprus. Additionally, a diagnostic key to the adult males and larvae of all Brachypsectra species is updated.
Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran have been increasing recently. Although the narrative developed to describe the execution of a Saudi Shiite cleric, Nimr Al-Nimr, as a sectarian dimension of the Kingdom’s policies towards Iran, Saudi Arabia’s goals are not principally fuelling the Shiite-Sunni divide. The Saudi executions were partially an attempt by Saudi Arabia to severe ties with Iran and push the tensions forward. Lifting sanctions against Iran, coupled with oil prices plummeting to around $32 per barrel remains a frightening nightmare for the Saudis...
Recent collections of pseudoscorpions resulted in a first record and a new species from Iran. Olpium omanense Mahnert, 1991 originally described from Oman is recorded for the first time from Iran. Three congeneric species with similar morphometric characters and trichobothrial patterns, Olpium intermedium Beier, 1959, O. lindbergi, Beier, 1959 and O. omanense can be separated by the setal numbers on the posterior margin of the carapace and tergite I. Also, specimens reported as Olpium lindbergi Beier, 1951 from Pakistan were probably misidentified and belong to O. omanense. The new species Cardiolpium bisetosum sp. nov. is described based on males from Markazi province, western Iran. Morphometric data are given in comparison to related species.
When the Iranian revolution embarked against Muhammad Reza Shah’s regime in the late 70s, it wasn’t a social revolution aiming at changing the society, but rather a political one with legitimate demands similar to what Syrians once were looking forward to achieve in 2011. When all this started in Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the most central and inspirational figure in the Iranian revolution was still in exile. This is a story that happened 35 years ago and we cannot but see the rhyming of its events with the current Syrian imbroglio...