Aims & Backgrounds Analyzing how the international rail network is being developed and expanded from Iran to Afghanistan and China, either directly or through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, can facilitate transport and cultural links with Europe and the Western world. Construction of a railway from Khawaf in eastern Iran to Herat, Afghanistan, and the creation of the Herat Railway Corridor to Kashgar, China are the main focus of this article which create a good basis to develop infrastructure, economic investment especially in mines and facilitation of interaction among countries. When this strategic plan is completed and implemented, it provides a good framework for infrastructure development, economic investment, especially mining, interaction and exchange between countries. The geopolitical and geostrategic position of this land makes it a geoeconomic situation. Conclusion Despite the important functions, threats and challenges to this strategic plan are; 1-Delays by the Iranian government in completing the Khaf to Herat railway, 2-Possibility of Russian railway extension from Mazar-e-Sharif to Herat and Kabul following the construction of a newly constructed railway from the Heiratan area on the Uzbekistan border to Mazari Sharif, 3-Possibility of extension of Indian subcontinent railway from Spin Boldak Pakistan to Kandahar Afghanistan and weakening Herat geoeconomic situation in near future. Any neglect of the railway construction on the Khaf route to Kashgar will result in irreparable international losses for European countries, China and the countries of the region, especially Iran and Afghanistan in the future.

The issue of heavy metal pollution poses a significant environmental concern, exerting detrimental effects on the growth and viability of plant life. Plants have evolved various mechanisms to effectively manage heavy metal stress, including the ability to modify their gene expression patterns. This adaptive response allows plants to mitigate the detrimental effects caused by excessive heavy metal accumulation. By altering their gene expression, plants can regulate the production of specific proteins and enzymes that aid in heavy metal detoxification and tolerance. Also, the changes that the plant makes in the production rate of secondary metabolites, including polyphenols, can be a mechanism to deal with the toxicity of environments contaminated with heavy metals. This sophisticated adaptation enables plants to maintain their physiological functions and overall health in the presence of heavy metal stress. This study utilized real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to examine and compare the differential gene expression of the plant, Tamarix hispida in addition to using HPLC to identify the amount of polyphenols in this plant. The plant was harvested from areas with varying levels of heavy metal pollution, including both non-polluted and polluted environments. The findings of this study reveal a noteworthy increase in the all NAC studied genes in T. hispida, within the contaminated site when compared to the uncontaminated area. Also, the consistent and inconsistent changes in the amount of polyphenols in this plant show that some polyphenols such as tamarixtein, hesperidin, galic acid and protocatechuica acid increased and some decreased such as quercetin, rutin, carsnoic acid, naringin acid and apigenine in the polluted environment. These results suggest that these genes and expression of secondary metabolites may play a crucial role in the process of metal detoxification, which allows the plant to tolerate heavy metals. The findings of our study offer valuable insights into the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying the resistance of T. hispida plant to heavy metals. Additionally, we identify promising candidates that could be utilized in genetic engineering approaches for phytoremediation purposes.

When Muslim Arabs conquered Transoxiana, the eastern Turkistan and Semirchie remained unoccupied for two centuries by Qarluqs resistance. But Islamic teachings were gradually propagated in their area and in the second half of the fourth century A.H Islam became the dominant religion among them. On the basis of a descriptive-analytic method, this article is to clarify the process of propagation of Islam in Qarluq territory through criticizing available data. This study shows that although Qarluqs resisted against Muslim invaders, but they were gradually affected by Islamic teachings in different manners – such as religious propaganda by Muslim merchants and warriors, political relations and intercourses, and above all the efforts of Muslim propagandists- and converted to Islam.

The Great Islamic Civilization is a name for the academic, social and cultural developments in a wide geographical field spreading from Kashgar to the beaches of the Atlantic. In this wide range, there have been some small civilizations which all together constitute the Islamic Civilization.  These civilizations are mainly local and subject to particular geographies and incidentally have certain time frame. The civilization field located between Maragheh, Tabriz and Baghdad in the Ilkhanate era (late 7th to early 8th centuries-Islamic Calendar) is one of the important and distinguished fields of Islamic Civilization. Two great figures, Khajeh Nasir and Rashidoddin Fazlollah ore among the founding fathers of this civilization. This article explores the civilizational viewpoints of Khajeh Rashidoddin Fazlollah, whose philosophical, social and political thoughts have a particular place in the Islamic-Iranian thinking.

Background: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) remains an important public health problem in China. It is essential to elucidate the current epidemiological characteristics of VL for designing control policy.Methods: The data were obtained from China Disease Prevention and Control Information System from 2004 to 2012. Characteristics by major variables, such as age, gender, season and geography were analyzed using SPSS13.0.Results: The incidence of VL in China remained at a lower level in recent years. The outbreak appeared in xinjiang kashgar region in 2008. A total of 3337 VL cases were reported in China from 2004 to 2012, 97.03% of cases were concentrated in Xinjiang, Gansu and Sichuan provinces. The cases under 5 year-old accounted for 59.21%. concentrated in 3~5 months each year and annual December to January of next year The ratio of males to females was 1.67: 1 (2088: 1249). The lag time between symptom onset and diagnosis of VL appeared a marked decrease after 2008, and were shorter in endemic provinces of Xinjiang, Gansu and Sichuan than non-endemic provinces. The case fatality rate was 2.99% (10/3337) during the study period.Conclusion: The reported cases of VL were concentrated in Xinjiang, Gansu, Sichuan provinces in China, 2004-2012. The onset was given priority to children. The lag time between symptom onset and diagnosis of VL were difference among years and provinces. Therefore, prevention and control measures should be focused on improving awareness and capacities of diagnosis and treatment, targeting high-risk people in high-risk areas.

The academic Journal of Oriental Art and Civilization (JACO) is now in its 11th year of publication. As it is obvious from the title and content of the research articles published by the JACO over the past eleven years, the scholarly, critical, and analytical studies of cultural, social, historical, and artistic relations of the culture and civilization of the oriental people with an Iranian approach - not a western one - has been the aim of its editorial board. Of course, this Iranian approach does not mean the denial of the efforts of the Western orientalists, particularly Europeans, in the past centuries, for which Iran and the Oriental world have always been a subject of knowledge based on an interpretation derived from Western cultural values and various philosophical schools of Europe (e.g., Said, 1978; Macfie,2002). It also does not imply that they have understood and evaluated the art of the Orient only through the lens of Kantian and Hegelian aesthetics (e.g.,Gombrich, 1950). Rather, the international editorialcomposition of JACO shows that the senior head of the NRC attempts to establish a scholarly cultural dialogue between Iranian thinkers and researchers with their Oriental and Occidental counterpartsto analyze and understand the sociocultural aspects of Iran and the Orient based on the perspective of their own Oriental cultural and historical values. Noteworthy to mention that Iran and Iranian history,culture, and civilization with more than five millennia of its formation and expansion from the riverside of the Tigris to the Indus and the Oxus and from the Darbent of the Caucasia to the shores of thePersian Gulf (Qazwini, 1919), which has a colorful amount of cultures and peoples of a joint descent and linguistically familiar languages, includes the origin of various cults and religions throughouthistory, as a bridge that stands between the Orient and the Occident, plays a colorful unique role:The long life and joint lineage of Iranian and Indian languages and ancient religious beliefs, the spread of Dari Persian language and literature from Kashgar to Delhi and Konya, the connection of theKurdish language in Western Asia with the Pashtun language in Central Asia through the ancient Pahlavi language, the variety of Turkish dialects spread throughout the Iranian plateau, from Khorasanto Qashqai, the praise of Shams Tabrizi and Mevlana of Balkh in Persian poets and the Urdu writings of Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal of Lahore, the art and architecture and rites of Urartu, Elamite,Mannai and Achaemenid inspired from the ancient Mesopotamia, the impact of Iranian art and architecture on the Early and Middle Ottoman (Sarre, 1910), the Sprachbund ties among Turkic andPersian languages and literatures with Arabic and Quranic doctrines, and of course, for the first time in history, a comprehensive reflection and collectivity of the old histories of the people of the East andWest from ancient times to the high medieval period, in the masterpiece of ‘Jāme al-Tawārikh-i Rashidi, composed by “the Grand Premier of Iran” Khwāja Rashid al-Din Fazll-Allah Hamadāni (Rab’-eRashidi, Tabriz, 1306) and hundreds of other examples that are not included in this brief note, all of them are based on the firm and indisputable position of Iran and the Iranian World on the history, cultureof the Orient and orientalist activities. This is the reason why, now in its 11th year of publication, the JACO takes a new approach to the great question of the Orient and the status of Iran in Orientalism,and brings an Iranian approach to Orientalism to split heaven’s ceiling with our powers to try a wholly new design, as versified by Hafez of Shiraz accordingly.Finally, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the famous thinker, author, Iranologist, and Persian poet from Lahore, Sir Allama Muhammad IQBAL (1873-1938), remember him, byone of his Persian poets on Iran:

Introduction: In the last two decades, China and India, two countries with high economic growth, huge economy, and extensive trade, have emerged as two Asian powers and even global powers. Both countries have great regional and global ambitions. China is pursuing a new system of power relations and international relations through its Belt and Road Initiative, while India is trying to create a new convergence of power relations with its Asian policy, while expanding its sphere of influence. Both countries pursue a policy of connecting and accessing Eurasia's geopolitical areas by adopting a geo-economic strategy. In this context, Pakistan and Iran have become appropriate options for creating connection corridors in Eurasia by China and India, with two main points being Gwadar and Chabahar ports. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate and explain the geopolitical and geo-economic competition between China and India in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the International North-South Transport Corridor and to investigate the role of both Chabahar and Gwadar ports in this competition. The two major Asian economies and powers have focused on connection corridors to expand their sphere of influence, export surplus products, have access to large consumer markets, secure the supply of sustainable energy, and pursue national interests in peripheral areas. Decision makers and strategists within the Chinese government have proposed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, based on the Port of Gwadar. This corridor is an important part of a major Silk Road reconstruction project, called "One Belt One Road" or "Belt and Road Initiative". In contrast, the Indians proposed the "International North-South Transport Corridor" with its focus on Chabahar Port and the land of Iran. China's presence at Gwadar Port and India's presence at Chabahar Port are analyzed and explored in the context of China and India's geopolitical and geo-economics competitions in South Asia and access to Eurasia. Therefore, this study seeks to explain the geopolitical and geo-economics competitions of China and India in these corridors as well as the geopolitical role of Gwadar and Chabahar ports in this competition. Methods and Material: The study focuses on two China-Pakistan economic corridors and International North– South Transport Corridor in Pakistan and Iran. The two oceanic ports of Gwadar and Chabahar are at the heart of this article. The research uses descriptive-analytical method with its data, collected in a library manner. Results and Discussion: The starting point of the International North– South Transport Corridor onshore route is Chabahar Port in southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan Province. The closest Iranian city to India, Chabahar is the only oceanic port in Iran. The geographical location and high potential of transit make the Indians pay special attention to Chabahar port. In addition, India's long-standing rivalry with Pakistan in the Gwadar Port as well as massive Chinese investment in that port have increased the Indian government's incentive to develop Chabahar port so as to access Central Asian and Eurasian markets. Accordingly, Chabahar is India's "golden gateway" to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Afghanistan with broad potentials for connecting business centers in South Asia (India), the Gulf region (Dubai), Central Asia, and Afghanistan. Therefore, Chabahar port is of particular geostrategic, geopolitical, and geo-economic importance for India. This is especially evident when the port is seen in the context of the geopolitical and geo-economic competitions of China and India. From this point of view, Chabahar is a focal point and gateway for the Indians who do not want to miss it easily. The two governments of China and Pakistan signed an agreement in 2013 to activate the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, whereby the Corridor Development Project will include establishment of a railroad, motorway, and energy pipeline linking the port city of Gwadar in Balochistan Province, Pakistan, to the Chinese city of Kashgar in Xinjiang Province in western China. The Gwadar Port plays a central role in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. This port will play a key role in China-Pakistan strategic relationship, being pivotal for the future of China-Pakistan strategic relations and sustainable economy. China's widespread investment in the Gwadar Port, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and the Karakoram Highway is more than just an economic issue. China pursues broad strategic, geopolitical, and geo-economic goals in the project in medium and long term. Geopolitically, China's relationship with Pakistan to build the Gwadar Port is a strategic focal point in Belt and Road Initiative. On the one hand, it is a gateway to the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, Western Asia, South Asia, and Indian Ocean, and on the other hand, the starting point for easy access to western China and Karakoram plain as well as easy trade with Central Asian countries. Conclusion: The results show that India is working to improve its geopolitical and geo-economic weight against China and Pakistan through Chabahar Port and Iran’ s Corridor. India tries to achieve a regional balance of power with China through Iran’ s space and Chabahar Port.

This paper deals with a Judeo-Persian letter named Dandān-Uiliq II (henceforth DU II), which probably dates back to 9th century C. E. In addition to its content, DU II has some important linguistic features, often absent in Persian texts written in Arabic script. Among them the use of “kū” as a preposition and the ancient subjunctive mood can be mentioned. The present paper will present a translation of the letter in addition to a discussion of its ancient linguistic features with comparison to the Early New Persian texts (in Perso-Arabic script) and certain early Quran translations into Persian (especially Qur'an-e Quds). The linguistic features of this early Judeo-Persian letter will represent a definite stage where the language is changing from Middle Persian to New Persian (Dari). Since the evidences related to this stage is relatively rare in the extant texts of Persian, this letter can undoubtedly be used for a more understanding of the period of Persian language evolution. The given translation is not the same as the previous English and Chinese translations and reflects our understanding of its syntax and morphology. 1. Introduction Iranian Jewish communities have not settled only in the borders of Iran today, but in neighboring countries. Their works, including unwritten as well as written materials, are not only the best heritages of their presence but also the mirror of Iranian culture, language and daily matters. Their value in a time when the works and materials reflecting the Iranian culture are not so numerous, and especially regarding the language, when most of the works are written in Arabic or at least in an official form of the Persian not reflecting the local changes as well as the process of transmission of the Middle Persian to the Early New Persian becomes more understandable. In such an environment and in a multicultural district like the Taklamakan, two Judeo-Persian letters written by ink on the papers have been found till now. In addition to their information about the district in the 8th-9th century C. E., the letters show a kind of local dialect which in companion with other few documents from this period, can give the researchers of the Persian language, some samples showing how the Middle Persian have been transmitted to the Early New Persian. In Dandān-Uiliq, the writer after greetings, starts to count the gifts and the materials he has sent or has given to some officials there. In the last part, he advises that they should behave in a friendly manner towards the daughter of Dihqan and also gives some reports on the war and peace in Kashgar with Tibetans. The letter is not complete and the end part has missed. 2. Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework of the present paper is based on the common method of the Judeo-Persian studies and Persian language and literature as well as the historical linguistics. 3. Methodology In this paper, by discussing the previous works on DU II as well as other EJP related texts, the authors tried to find all the available researches, and then by processing the information, emended previous researches and in some cases, they have strengthened and expanded such information. It’s noteworthy that everywhere they have found some ambiguities, did their best to make them clear. 4. Results & Discussion The Judeo-Persian letter of DU II represents some important linguistic features, often in the absence of Persian texts written in Arabic script, e. g. the use of kū as a preposition and the ancient subjunctive mood. The letter has been translated in this paper and its ancient linguistic features have been discussed with comparison to the Early New Persian texts (in Perso-Arabic script) and some early Qur'an translations into Persian (especially Qur'an-e Quds). These features represent language transmission from Middle Persian to New Persian (Dari). The given translation is not the same as the previous English and Chinese translations and reflects our understanding of its syntax and morphology. 5. Conclusions & Suggestions The Judeo-Persian letter of DU II which is written approximately in the 9th century in the oasis of Dandān-Uiliq is the second letter of its kind and shows the historical, cultural, financial as well as the political and linguistic environment of the district at the time. From a linguistic point of view, the letter asserts the previous findings, however, it portrays some new features as well. Select Bibliography Boyce, Mary. 1975. A Reader in Manichaean Middle Persian, and Parthian: Texts with Notes. Bibliothèque Pahlavi. Dehxodā, A. 1998. Loqat Nāme. Tehrān: Dānešgāh-e Tehrān. [In Persian]. Durkin-Meisterernst, Desmond. 2004. A Dictionary of Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian. Brepols. Lazar, Ž. 2014. Šeklgiri-ye zabān-e Fārsi. (M. Bahreyni, Motarjem), Tehrān: našr-e Hermes. 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