September 22nd, 2015 – Sicily and Iran are taking steps towards greater cooperation and cultural exchanges, thanks to a delegation from the Department of Humanities (Arab and Islamic Studies) from the University of Palermo (composed of professors Antonino Pellitteri, Maria Grazia Sciortino and Daniele Sicari) that traveled to Tehran and Qom. The three Italians were invited by the Directorate of Islamic Culture and Relations Organization of Tehran (Dr. Al-Ja’fari and Professor Pourmajian, current director of the Cultural Institute of Iran in Rome), headed by the Iranian Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs. The visit to Iran – as stated on the website of the Sicilian university – was packed with meetings with academic authorities and the presidents of the main institutions in the country. In addition to Tehran University, the Palermo delegation met with the President of the Iranian Academy of Arts, and participated in seminars and workshops with representatives of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization Directorate. Discussions focused on the development of scientific and cultural cooperation between academic and cultural institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the University of Palermo (Department of Humanities), in order to deepen and broaden the cooperation already under way with the agreement signed in September of 2013. In Tehran, Professor Antonino Pellitteri was invited to give a lecture on “Muslim Sicily in the Fatimid era” and for the occasion Dr. Jaafari pledged to translate into Persian Pellitteri’s essay entitled “The Fatimids and Sicily in the tenth century”. The cooperation projects and proposals that were discussed are diverse and cover different areas: the teaching of the Persian language and Islamic studies with regard to the Shia faction; cooperation on art, music and Islamic philosophy; the organization of conferences and seminars; exchanges of researchers and students. (Red)
