Iranian Historian Explains Iran War

Even this far into the epochal war in the Middle East, it remains difficult to find informed commentary on Iran and its current government.

This is a rare exception: a chat between British-Iranian historian of Iran, Professor Ali Ansari, and a good historian of most places between Istanbul and Kolkata (Calcutta), William Dalrymple.

Readers of this blog may notice the reference to Edward Browne.

The image – ‘Portrait of a Persian Lady Holding Daisy Flowers’ – is a work by the Persian artist Muhammadi Haravi (aka, Muhammadi of Herat), whose career was spent in Qazvin, ca. 1570–78 and Herat, ca. 1578–87.

The page bears the stamp of the ruler of the Persian Safavid ruler Shah ‘Abbas I (r. 1587–1629).