SCIENTIFIC LIFE. CONGRESSES, CONFERENCES, AND SYMPOSIA On May 22, 2002, the Institute of Oriental Studies held a scientific conference "Iran and the CIS countries", where more than 20 reports and presentations were heard. On the relevance of the topic, especially in the light of changes in the world after the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan, the need to preserve and expand good-neighborly relations between Iran and Russia was discussed in detail. A. Z. Egorin, Director of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Dr. Mehdi Sanai, Head of the Cultural Representation at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Moscow. The topic of relations between Iran and the CIS countries is very multidimensional, so various issues of a geopolitical, economic, and cultural nature were raised in the reports and speeches of the participants of the discussion. In his report, M. Sanaei gave a general description of Iran's place in the system of relations with the CIS countries. From his point of view, Iran has always had a huge impact on the political, economic and social situation in the countries bordering it. The presence of a common history and culture with the peoples of the CIS countries, common water and land borders, various organizations for regional cooperation, as well as bilateral and multilateral interstate cooperation agreements make relations between Iran and the CIS countries closely interrelated. But Iran's relations with Russia are of paramount importance in the whole complex of interstate and regional relations. In his opinion, these relations will influence both the political course of the two countries and Iran's relations with other CIS countries. Moreover, interstate relations between the Russian Federation and Iran are under close attention of countries in other regions. The conference addressed one of the main issues - the influence of political Islam in Iran on its relations with the CIS countries. Almost all ... Читать далее