Hojat al-Islam Darvishi Elami, Deputy for Cultural, Educational, and Research Affairs of the Ashura International Foundation, visited the Istituto per l’Oriente C. A. Nallino in Rome during his trip to the Vatican for academic cooperation talks. He met with Professor Claudio Lo Jacono, head of the institute, and discussed avenues for expanding scientific and cultural collaboration.

The Nallino Institute, a renowned center for contemporary Oriental and Islamic studies, hosts a group of scholars specializing in Islamic and Middle Eastern research. Its library contains a vast collection of Islamic and Orientalist works, serving as an important resource for researchers. However, as Darvishi Elami noted, the institute lacks sufficient materials on authentic Shiism, the Islamic Revolution, the doctrine of Velayat-e Faqih, and the ideas of Imam Khomeini (r.a.) and the Supreme Leader, while numerous works on Sunni thought and heterodox Shiite movements are available.

During the meeting, Hojat al-Islam Darvishi Elami elaborated on the concept of religious governance based on Velayat-e Faqih, a central element of Shiite political culture. He also discussed Ayatollah Sistani’s role in saving Iraq from Takfiri terrorism and the relationship between Shiite religious authorities and the Supreme Leader, which drew particular interest from the hosts.

Professor Lo Jacono introduced the institute’s programs and requested that the Ashura International Foundation send lecturers specializing in Shiite theology and jurisprudence, the Islamic Revolution, the historical roots of the movement such as the Ashura Uprising, and its socio-political outcomes for short- and long-term academic courses. He also proposed signing a memorandum of academic cooperation between the Nallino Institute and the Ashura International Foundation.

The Istituto per l’Oriente C. A. Nallino, named after the Italian Orientalist Carlo Alfonso Nallino (1872–1938), was founded in Rome and is known for its pioneering research on Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu languages, as well as Islamic history and astronomy.