One of the advantages of having a legal education is that one measures ones words with an appreciable amount of care, to obfuscate or be

Father used to say that summer for him began when I arrived in Tehran for the holidays, the start of which for me was signified

It is almost the end of July. I take inventory of a few loose ends that I need to tie up before taking a break

On any given day, the quaint porch of Whole Foods provides an adequate vantage point for watching the bustle along Main Street in Orleans, Cape

One Faisal bin Salman al-Saud has written a book entitled Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf (I.B. Tauris, 2003). This essay discusses the book. Among

In the aftermath of yet another Arab-Israeli war in October 1973, the Arab oil exporting countries shut off the spigot and caused a major change

My earliest recollection of participation in a political process dates to the mid-1970s. The Shah had tired of the staged bickering among the country’s various

Just as I thought I was done with ruminations of a tokhmi kind, up pops one Fathali Khan with some pertinent observations about the etymology

A season or two ago Sabatico and I were engaged in a series of e-mail transactions about etymology of the word “rustic.” I had entertained

In a number of recent articles I have alluded to a national or ethnic group called Saka, a grouping of Iranian-speaking horsemen who entered the

In “The Saka Legacy” I explored the origin of place-names like Sakkiz, Arsaka (Quchan), Zadrakarta (Sa-karta, Gorgan), Sakastan (Sistan) and Sakavand (in Bamiyan/Sistan). That exercise

In a number of recent articles I have alluded to the Saka, a grouping of Iranian-speaking horsemen who entered the west-central regions of present-day Iran

On the inside wall of the doorway of my walk-in pantry is a ceramic representation of “Miss Poppea,” an artifact from Italy that, according to

In my prepubescent years I roamed Darband, Pasqaleh, Abshar Dogolou and Shirpala in the company of my father, to whom on the anniversary of his

In my prepubescent years I roamed Darband, Pasqaleh, Abshar Dogolou and Shirpala in the company of my father, to whom on the anniversary of his

In my prepubescent years I roamed Darband, Pasqaleh, Abshar Dogolou and Shirpala in the company of my father, to whom on the anniversary of his

It is the season to roll up the sleeves and commune with the yellow clayish mud that passes for cultivable soil in my garden. I

When he was all of two-years old, Stan used to reach and pounce a sip of my beer when I was not looking. One evening

The Shahnameh is replete with scenes of kings and heroes in the company of wine. In one episode, for example, Esfandiyar feasted on kabob and

To the Iranians of my generation — in particular those who spent half-hour of every Monday evening glued to Radio Iran — the phrase “ziyr-e

I began this exploration into the origins of Fenderesk a few years ago in order to fill a nagging void left from my childhood. I

If there was nobody to play the role of Zahak, can Kaveh have a story to tell? If the bird could sing but did not, would

Pained by concern for the environment and overfishing of the Caspian Sea's sturgeon stock, this past week the US Department of Commerce placed a total

Some people believe that there is no such thing as coincidence or chance. Coincidence or not, I had been reading the article by Guive Mirfendereski

Ahmad Mirfendereski, who died in France at the age of 86 Sunday, was Iran's last foreign minister before the fall of the monarchy in 1979