This conference will put in contact Portuguese scholars with the work of foreign colleagues, namely from Spain, France, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Simultaneously, this event takes place after two previous international conferences held in Spain, one in 2013 and the other in 2016, under the aegis of the Ibero-Safavid Council of Historical Studies (http://www.iberosafavidstudies.es/), connected with the CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas).

The conference will allow Portugal, through its scholars, to be part of a broader and dynamic international scientific network aiming to study the relations between the Iberian and the Iranian worlds during the Safavid Age. In the foreseeable future it will be possible to alternate holding academic meetings between Portugal and Spain, thus deepening the processes of the internationalization of Portuguese research, namely with our partners from EUROEST: Proyecto de Excelencia 2016-2019 «La otra Europa: individuos y grupos de la Europa oriental y del Imperio Safaví en España y la América Española de la Edad Moderna», HAR2015-64574-C2-1-P e C2-2-P (MINECO/ FEDER).

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English is generally used as the working language of these conferences, thus allowing for an easier publication of its proceedings and ensuring a greater dissemination and impact of the research and discussions carried out. We expect the same results for the Portuguese meeting, which will also give rise to a volume of studies bringing together the various papers presented. The academic network thus constituted may in the future be a lever to organise broader and more ambitious projects that contribute to the rapprochement between peoples and cultures.