The cultural relations between the Iranians and Armenians go back to 2800 years ago, connecting the deep-rooted cultural ties between the two communities. The Armenian territory is the extension of the Iranian plane. Both the communities moved from the first birthplace of the Arians and settled in the present territories. The Armenian language has an inextricable connection with the Persian language. The ancient Armenian names are original Achaemenid and Ashkanid names. The Armenians and Iranians had a common religion during the Achaemenid and Ashkanid rules. They had also common festivals some of which are 2700 years old. Today the Armenians hold these festivals within the framework of Christianity. No two communities are as close as the Iranians and Armenians. In fact, they constitute a single family. The present article is an attempt to shed light on some aspects of cultural relations between the two communities.      

When Dashnaktsutyun party was established in 1890, it was considered the third Armenian political party. However, in the year the Republic of Armenia gained independence in 1918, the party had acquired a position of dominance in the life of the Armenians of the Caucasus. This position became a serious source of the obstacle in the way of the interactions and cooperation of the Armenian political parties for the future of the country right after the establishment of the independent Armenia. Relying on Robert Michel's theory of political party, the objective of the present study is to explain how such greatness and cohesiveness was created for Dashnaktsutyun party. The use of the theory of political party reveals that “leadership in organization”, “dictatorial tendencies of leaders”, and the effect of the psychology of power on the personality traits of the leaders changed Dashnaktsutyun from an open opposition association to a cohesive oligarchic organization. This oligarchic structure placed Dshnaksiun above all other Armenian political party, and led to its domination in Armenian political life.

When sultan Hussein became a ruler, he showed more intolerance toward religious monitories like Armenians. So at the beginning of Afghans’ attack on Esfahan, the rumors about taking revenge on Safavye by Armenians and closing to Afghanis were heard. It seems that European tourists and Carmelite priests were rumormonger. This article, by using travel books and eyewitnesses, tries to proof that unlike the rumors; Armenians not only didn’t compromise but also joined with the safavye army against the common enemy.

Investigating 1915's painful events which were called "the Great Tragedy" by Turks and "Genocide" by Armenians is an issue that has attracted the attention of some researchers.The topic has been vague because of special reasons such as political sensitivities and researchers' limited access to the related articles of Ottoman, Armenia and Russia. Here, first we have defined the concept "Genocide" and then scientifically dealt with the historic issue through indirect study of the existing documents in the Ottoman empire and the researches done by the opponents of Genocide Theory. The article, by a descriptive- analytical method, investigates the changes occurred during 1915 and 1916 due to Armenians forced migration and massacre. To compile the information in the article, in addition to printed sources, valid online sources have been used.

The Caucasus region has had a great importance in the Iranian history since ancient times and has played a major role in the main developments of Iranian foreign relations. By separation from Iran in 1828, this significance remained for the coming decades; although its shape have changed. The main purpose of this paper is study and review role of Armenians in tendency to Russian empire from last decades of the safavid dynstay to the Turkmanchay treaty. We try answer to this main question that the scientific views of the last two centuries, that consider joining to Tsarist Russia as a general and maximal demand of Armenian community, how much is it consistent with the historical reality and the relevant sources and archival documents? . By examining the relevant documents and sources, present study shows that this trend was not a maximum demand and many parts and main church of the Armenian community had no adesire for join to Russian Empire. Because of various reasons, including the political support of the Iranian governments from the Christians especially during the stabilization of the central power, most of the Armenians have called for continuity in the Iranian society.

The Study of manifest and covert qualities of historical cemeteries with the purpose of understanding a part of orders and relations in past societies is important for the art history researchers. Through reflection on the environmental qualities of these areas and also study of the dispersed cultural materials in their environment, can help us understand the unknown about the background of Iranian societies and their dominant thought patterns. But if from the beginning, the semantic structure of such premises has been constructed based on conflicting or contradictory elements, their semantic analyses faces a great challenge in its course. Since in order to uncover the truth, many obstacles should be identified and cleared away. Given that, the present paper reviews the interesting co-existence of Islamic and Christian cultural materials in Tabriz Armenian cemetery. Many Islamic gravestones related to the era between the seventh and ninth centuries AH as well as many Islamic carvings and reliefs, especially those created during Il-Khani era, exist alongside the Armenian gravestones. The proximity of artworks from two different ideologies (Islamic and Christian) in this cemetery has created a rather chaotic condition since this amalgamation of varied works, styles and implications of the history is quite heterogeneous. The “why” and “how” of this condition is the main question of this paper. Through historical descriptive method, it is explained that environmental quality of the cemetery is the result of a historical process in which, some Islamic cultural material were relocated from their original context to another (the Armenians cemetery). It needs to be mentioned that while the primary objective of this paper is demystification of the mentioned issue, it attains two more achievements: first, resolving some scientific loopholes about these historical sites, and second, identifying some of the construction materials used in the historical structures of Tabriz province during seventh and ninth centuries AH. Furthermore, the paper first analyzes the formation process of the cemetery and then proceeds to answer the question about the existence of Islamic cultural works in the cemetery.

Introduction Niello, blackwork, Lead Sawat, and black enamel are different names for a metalworking art style known in different countries and among different ethnic groups. This art has a long history and deploys a combination of silver, copper, lead, and sulfur to decorate silver and gold works. This art is popular among the Armenians of Tabriz and Van in Turkey. Previous studies showed that there were deep cultural connections between the Armenians of Tabriz and Van in Turkey. Considering that studies conducted in the field of Niello of the Armenians of Tabriz and Van in Turkey are limited in terms of case studies or comparative studies, so the present study seems essential. This research was conducted in order to understand Niello art and its decorative motifs among the Armenians of Van and Tabriz.   Research Method In the present study, the decorative motifs and the execution style of Armenian Niello art in two regions of Tabriz in Iran and Van in Turkey have been compared from a descriptive-analytical approach. The analysis was carried out qualitatively based on library, documentary, and field information. The research samples included five works belonging to the Armenians of Tabriz, five works belonging to the Armenians of Van, and one sample, as a common product of two regions, found in searches. This sample is introduced in a separate section and presented as a document to express the cultural and economic connections of two regions. The sampling method is purposeful and the collection of research samples is based on field data.   Research Findings The findings of the present study are presented in Table 1:             Table 1: Matching of Niello art decorative motifs of Armenians of Tabriz and Van (Authors) Examples of Armenians from Tabriz Examples of Armenians from Turkey Common example       Images 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5     Images 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10     Image 11   Composition and execution process     Tabriz: 1 part silver, 2 parts copper, 3 parts lead, and 5 parts sulfur     Van: 4 grams of silver, 80 grams of copper, 80 grams of lead, and 1000 grams of sulfur         Similarities and Differences                                         Plant (herbal) motifs                       The pattern of multi-petaled flowers, in order, is part of the details of the images (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 10)   The image of multiple flowers with different feathers but with similar design in most samples is repeated, but the multiple sample flowers (7) are slightly different from other samples. In image (10), the crocus flower is depicted with two types of petals: sharp and curved (broad).   Rose pattern, part of the details of the images (3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11) respectively.   The rose motif is also seen in most of the examples, which are very similar to each other. Only example (9) is different from the others, and its petals are glued together and continuous.   Carnation pattern, part of the details of images (4, 11, and 11) respectively.   The carnation pattern is only seen in samples (4 and 11), in sample (4) the petals are designed in a curved form. However, in one of the flowers in sample (11), the carnation petals are designed with more curvature and sharper lines and a zigzag pattern.     Leaf pattern, in order of some of the details of the images (1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10 and 11)   The small-scale leaves of sample (10) and sample (4), which belong to the works of Van and Tabriz respectively, are very similar in terms of design. The leaves of samples (3, 4, and 5) from Tabriz and (6, 9) from Van and sample (11) (common to both regions) are drawn very similarly to each other. In general, in Van samples, the details of the veins are drawn more clearly and have a more natural design than Tabrizi samples. In all samples, the flower leaves have a light shade and are shaded with hatching,only in sample (6), there are two types of leaves: black and light shade. Of course, it should be noted that the type of light shade in samples is different from each other. In sample (10), the light shade of the leaves is very similar to the natural samples, while in the other samples this adherence is less. Animal motifs   Animal motifs, details of images (1 and 6)   In the examples from both regions, animal motifs were of interest to artists from both regions. Geometric patterns   Geometric patterns, part of the details of the images (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 11 and 11)   The zigzag pattern is exactly repeated in samples (1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and 11). The zigzag pattern in sample (3) is finer and has a denser texture. The motifs of squares in between silver and black are also seen in works (4 and 9). In sample (11) the braid pattern is also seen. Nature and other motifs   Natural landscape, pictures (1 and 6)   The presence of natural and native landscapes such as mountainous landscapes, native animals, lakes, and forests shows that artists from two regions were interested in this subject and that it was part of their Niello drawings emphasizing the concept of identity.             ‏ Conclusion The results of the research show that Van artists use up to one kilogram of sulfur in the Niello composition. As a result, the composition absorbs sulfur to the saturation point and has the quality of a beautiful black color. While in Tabriz, the amount of sulfur accounts for 5 parts of the composition, which results in a less dark result compared to the Van recipe. Regarding the decorative motifs of the two regions, it should be remarked that plant motifs and the motif of roses and their buds and multi-petaled flowers have the highest frequency among the works of the two regions, and there is a major similarity between the works of two regions of Tabriz and Van. This similarity indicates cultural connections and even economic interactions. Even the affinity of the artists of two regions is also so great that some (Niello) works, such as example (11) in Table (1), are a joint product of two regions, and the words Tabriz and Van are engraved on the work. Another important point is that by mentioning the word Van next to Tabriz, the Armenian artist of Tabriz emphasized his ancient origin, Van, and his and his fathers' migration to Tabriz, pointing to his attachment to both of his homelands, emphasizing the concept of unity between the Armenians of the two regions.

The Armenians of Isfahan played an active role in Iranian culture in the Safavid era. After migrating from Julfa and the Caucasus and settling in Isfahan during the reign of Shah Abbas I, they intended to preserve their culture and identity through their educational system. Features and dimensions of their education and their place in the educational system of that era are topics to which researchers have not paid much attention up to now. In this article, these topics are discussed based on the data collected from reliable books and documents. The results indicate that the Armenians of Julfa, in order to preserve their religion and beliefs, established their educational system with the support of the Safavid government of that time; meanwhile the churches and schools were running educational affairs, and some schools were built in the grounds of the churches. Thus, religion was the prominent subject in the Armenian educational system, yet some nonreligious sciences were taught too, especially commerce. Of course, the presence of different Catholic sects in Isfahan influenced the competition between them.

The Armenians of Iran, as one of the Indo-European tribes, have been exposed to the most intellectual, religious, social changes during their three thousand years history in ancient Armenia and with the background of 4 hundred years of resident in present-day Iran and due to their special geographical location and forced and voluntary migrations. The reflection of these changes can be sought in the customs and laws of the family among Armenians. This article briefly reports and analyzes the developments of the laws and injunctions related to the causes and obstacles of divorce in the Armenian history of Iran and then reviews and compares the laws in the Bibles, The Lawcode [Datastanagirk'] Of Mxit'ar GOŠ, the book of the Armenian Church Law, and the Civil Code of the Armenians by Nerses Malik Tangian, the personal status regulations of religious minorities in Iran and interviewing with Armenian experts.This historical comparison shows that different components such as the religious texts of Christianity, the power of the church, and the social conditions of feudalism, being a minority in non-Christian societies, custom and Social custom to some extent have been influenced in these developments.This article briefly reports and analyzes the developments of the laws and injunctions related to the causes and obstacles of divorce in the Armenian history of Iran and then reviews and compares the laws in the Bibles, THE LAWCODE [DATASTANAGIRK'] OF MXIT'AR GOŠ, the book of the Armenian Church Law, and the Civil Code of the Armenians by Nerses Malik Tangian, the personal status rules of Iran's religious minorities and interviewing with Armenian experts.This historical comparison shows that various factors have been influential in these changes such as the religious texts of Christianity, the power of the church, and the social conditions of feudalism, being a minority in non-Christian societies, custom and Social custom have influenced these developments.

The present article is a study of out-group relations of the Armenians in Iranian society. The main question is that what the role of collective memory is in the Armenians identity system and what effects it has on their out-group relations. In this study, the existing literature in the field of memory studies and the new theory of nationalism are referred together to explain the problem. The main argument is that the power of collective memory of Armenians which comes from their diasporic life, has affected their nationalist identification. This has brought about a tension in relations among the Armenians in Iran and out-group and led them to an introverted and isolated/ closed social life. In this study, in-depth research and anthropological methods are used to collect and analyze the data.