Journal of Historical Research, Law and Policy

Evaluation of the Policymaking System and Institutions for Combating Administrative Corruption in Afghanistan during the Republican Period (2004–2021)

Homayoun Saber Aman iD , Akbar Ashrafi ^* iD , Hojatollah Darvishpour iD

Administrative corruption was one of the most significant governance challenges in Afghanistan during the Republican period (2004–2021), with far-reaching effects on political legitimacy, state efficiency, and public trust. In response to this challenge, the Afghan government, with the support of the international community, established a set of laws, strategies, and specialized anti-corruption institutions. The present study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the policies and institutions for combating administrative corruption during the Republican period. The research method was descriptive-analytical, and the data were collected through the review of legal documents, national strategies, official reports, and scholarly sources. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the integration of institutionalism, good governance theory, public choice theory, the public policy cycle, and a justice-oriented approach. The findings indicate that although the Afghan government made considerable progress in the areas of legislation, the establishment of specialized institutions, and the acceptance of international commitments, these measures failed to lead to a sustainable reduction in corruption. Examination of the policy cycle shows that the most significant weakness emerged at the stages of policy implementation and oversight. Furthermore, the weakness of formal institutions, the influence of informal power networks, conflicts of interest and rent-seeking, limited transparency and accountability, dependence on foreign aid, and the gap between policymaking and implementation were among the most important factors contributing to the relative failure of anti-corruption policies. The results of the study indicate that the success of anti-corruption policies depends, more than on the enactment of new laws, on strengthening institutional capacity, ensuring the independence of oversight and judicial institutions, reducing the influence of informal power networks, and establishing effective mechanisms of accountability and transparency.

Analysis of the Impact of Bilateral Monetary Agreements and Digital Currencies on International Oil and Gas Trade

Javad Sarafraz ^* iD

International oil and gas trade has traditionally been founded upon the hegemony of the U.S. dollar and the petrodollar system over recent decades. This structural dependency has transformed Western-dominated financial networks into instruments of power projection and has given rise to a phenomenon referred to as weaponized interdependence. The consequence of this condition for independent economies and developing countries has been severe vulnerability to secondary financial sanctions, restrictions on access to international payment systems, and rising settlement costs. Given the existing research gap in presenting an integrated model that simultaneously examines macroeconomic dimensions, commercial applications, security risks, and legal requirements, the primary objective of this study is to analyze the role of disruptive financial technologies and emerging geo-economic alliances in transforming the architecture of energy trade and international settlement systems, with a focus on policy implications for Iran. In terms of purpose, this study is fundamental-applied research, and in terms of nature, it is descriptive-analytical with a qualitative approach. The findings indicate that the establishment of bilateral monetary agreements can substantially reduce transaction costs and enhance economic resilience under sanctions by eliminating intermediary currencies. On the other hand, the utilization of digital currencies, blockchain technology, and smart contracts provides a suitable platform for instantaneous, transparent, and restriction-resistant cross-border settlements. Nevertheless, this transition is accompanied by serious challenges, including legal ambiguities, money laundering risks, tax evasion, cyber threats, and high energy consumption. Ultimately, the study argues that the energy trade system is moving toward a multipolar, multi-currency, and technology-driven financial order, and that these emerging instruments constitute strategic levers for the reconfiguration of power in the global economy, the effective utilization of which requires an intelligent and balanced regulatory approach.

The West’s Self-Perceived Mission: Bernard Lewis’s Views on Western Saviorism

Milad Yari iD , Ahmad Bakhshayeshiardestani ^* iD , Mohammad Tohidfam iD

The confrontation and rivalry between the Western world and the Islamic world is not a new phenomenon; these two civilizations have each, at different points in history, sought to demonstrate their superiority over the other. Following the beginning of the Renaissance movement in the West, the balance gradually shifted in favor of the West. Through fundamental transformations at various levels, Western societies entered the path of development and progress. Since the West’s advancement over the East, various Orientalists have attempted to explain the reasons for this development and to offer prescriptions regarding how to manage the new conditions and how to deal with a world perceived as more backward. One of these thinkers is Bernard Lewis. He attributes the responsibility for Muslims’ backwardness to Muslims themselves and, in doing so, attempts to assign a mission to the West for reforming the Islamic world. The main objective of this article is to determine, first, the nature of the mission that Lewis assigns to the West; and second, the theoretical and epistemological foundations on which Lewis’s view is based, as well as whether these foundations are firmly established. According to the findings of this article, numerous epistemological objections can be raised against Bernard Lewis’s view of the “mission of the West.” Drawing on Feyerabend’s theories, Lewis’s views are understood not as knowledge about Islam and Islamic societies, but rather as a form of ideology placed in the service of power.

Examining Women’s Right to Equality in Employment and the Restrictions Governing It in Light of Contemporary Social and Political Developments in Iran

Sadegh Mohammadi iD , Mohammad Akbari ^* iD

The right to education and the right to employment are among the most important manifestations of economic, social, and cultural rights, commonly classified as the second generation of human rights. Their realization requires governments to fulfil positive obligations by creating equal opportunities for all individuals, particularly women. This study aims to examine the theoretical foundations of equality in women’s enjoyment of the rights to education and employment and to analyze the principal legal and practical restrictions affecting these rights within the Iranian legal system. The study adopts a descriptive-analytical method and draws on library-based sources, human rights instruments, domestic legislation, and legal scholarship. In addition to explaining the status of the rights to education and employment within the human rights framework, the study examines the legal foundations of equality of opportunity and the obligations of the state to guarantee these rights, while also analyzing the regulations governing women’s education and employment in Iran. The findings indicate that, although Iranian laws and regulations in certain respects emphasize the principle of equality and the protection of women’s rights, several restrictions continue to impede the full realization of equality of opportunity. These include the exclusion of women from certain occupations, limitations on their eligibility to hold particular positions, and the application of gender-based quotas in certain university disciplines. The findings further demonstrate that the effective realization of women’s rights to education and employment requires not only the amendment and revision of certain legal provisions, but also changes in cultural attitudes, the elimination of gender stereotypes, and the strengthening of governmental support policies aimed at ensuring equal opportunities based on individual merit and competence.

Responsible AI Governance in Iran: A Program-Theory Evaluation of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy

Mohammad Masoumi Godarzi ^* iD , Amin Poyanrad iD

https://doi.org/10.61838/jhrlp.389

Artificial intelligence has become a strategic technology whose development requires coordinated institutional, regulatory, ethical, and infrastructural governance. This study evaluated the capacity of Iran’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy to support responsible AI governance by reconstructing its underlying program theory and examining the coherence of its implementation architecture. The research adopted a qualitative, theory-based case-study design. Data were obtained through documentary analysis of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy and related policy materials, together with semi-structured interviews with 12 experts from academic, research, policy, and industrial backgrounds. The data were coded and thematically analysed using MAXQDA, after which an integrated theory of change and theory of action was developed and applied to the national strategy. The findings indicated that responsible AI governance in Iran depends on sustained political commitment, a legally empowered and agile coordinating institution, equitable access to high-quality data and computational infrastructure, interdisciplinary human capital, effective university–industry collaboration, risk-based regulation, and continuous policy evaluation. The strategy provides an important normative foundation by emphasizing human dignity, national values, scientific development, priority sectors, and the participation of knowledge-based firms. Nevertheless, its implementation architecture remains insufficiently specified. Major weaknesses include ambiguity regarding institutional authority, sustainable financing, data classification, access to computational resources, legal liability, regulatory instruments, measurable indicators, and mechanisms for periodic revision. The analysis also identified major policy dualities involving open versus sensitive data, centralized versus networked governance, strict versus adaptive regulation, domestic versus international standards, state versus private investment, and problem-oriented versus technology-oriented development. The study concludes that the effectiveness of the strategy depends on translating broad objectives into an explicit, funded, accountable, and adaptive program of action. Responsible AI governance requires not merely ethical declarations, but a coherent causal chain connecting institutions, resources, activities, outputs, societal outcomes, and mechanisms of accountability.

Legal Foundations of the Prosecutor’s Mandate and Priority Areas of Action Across Different Domains of Public Rights

Saeid Dousti Nejad iD , Ali Najafi Tavana ^* iD , Mohammad Jafar Saed iD

https://doi.org/10.61838/jhrlp.395

Public rights encompass collective, diffuse, and intergenerational interests whose protection cannot always be achieved through individual litigation or ordinary administrative mechanisms. In the Iranian legal system, the prosecutor occupies a central position in safeguarding these rights because the office represents the public interest, initiates public prosecution, supervises criminal investigations, and may intervene when serious violations affect society as a whole. This article examines the legal foundations, forms, limits, and priority domains of the prosecutor’s mandate in protecting public rights. Using a descriptive-analytical legal method, the study analyzes constitutional principles, criminal-procedure rules, sector-specific legislation, judicial directives, and relevant legal scholarship. The findings indicate that the prosecutor’s mandate is grounded in a layered legal framework consisting of the Judiciary’s constitutional responsibility to revive public rights, procedural powers relating to public prosecution, substantive criminal provisions, and specialized laws governing public health, economic order, natural resources, environmental protection, public infrastructure, and cyberspace. Prosecutorial intervention may take preventive, criminal, civil, administrative, and restorative forms. However, the exercise of these powers must remain subject to legality, competence, necessity, proportionality, due process, institutional separation, transparency, and respect for individual freedoms. The principal priority areas include economic welfare and market integrity, food and medicine safety, water and energy security, protection of public infrastructure, environmental preservation, natural resources and public lands, and collective interests in the digital environment. The article further argues that prosecutorial priorities should be determined according to the scale, severity, immediacy, irreversibility, and systemic character of harm, as well as the vulnerability of affected populations and the failure of administrative authorities to respond effectively. It concludes that effective protection of public rights requires clearer legislation, specialized prosecutorial units, interdisciplinary expertise, structured interagency coordination, transparent decision-making, and greater participation by civil-society and professional organizations.

An Analysis of Timur’s Cultural Strategy in His Rivalry with the Ottoman Empire

Maryam Naghdloo iD , Leila Mohammadi ^* iD , Leila Taghavi Sangdehi iD

https://doi.org/10.61838/jhrlp.398

Although the rivalry between Timur and the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid reached its climax at the Battle of Ankara in 1402, it was never confined to the battlefield; cultural and spiritual domains also constituted arenas of indirect confrontation between the two powers. The principal research question is: What was Timur’s cultural strategy in his rivalry with the Ottoman Empire? The study hypothesizes that, recognizing the potential of soft power, Timur adopted a cultural strategy against the Ottomans that incorporated such components as the instrumental use of religious scholars and Sufis, the civilizational reconstruction of Samarkand, and pilgrimage diplomacy. The study employs a descriptive-analytical method, and the data were collected through library research. The findings indicate that Timur’s cultural strategy consisted of four principal components: (1) the forced relocation of Ottoman scholarly and religious elites to Samarkand; (2) Sufi diplomacy aimed at obtaining signs of spiritual endorsement and weakening the foundations of Ottoman legitimacy; (3) the transformation of Samarkand into the physical and symbolic center of Islamic civilization through monumental architecture and its display to foreign envoys; and (4) the application of pilgrimage diplomacy—including endowments for the Two Holy Sanctuaries, the protection of pilgrims, and discursive criticism of the Mamluks and Ottomans—to redefine the title of “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.” It is concluded that, by combining military hard power with cultural soft power, Timur sought to consolidate his religious and political legitimacy while delegitimizing his rival.

Challenges of Criminal Policy in Supporting Consumer Rights in the Context of Electronic Commerce

Amin Amirian Farsani ^* iD , Elnaz Chelongar iD , Mohammadreza Aramesh iD

https://doi.org/10.61838/jhrlp.200

The expansion of digital interactions and the growing dependence of consumers on electronic commerce platforms have made it necessary to reconsider the traditional model of Iran’s criminal policy. Despite the criminalization of certain behaviors threatening the security of online transactions in the Electronic Commerce Act and the Computer Crimes Act, the existing legislative structure remains grounded in a strict, punishment-oriented approach and fails to benefit from the leniency mechanisms provided under the Islamic Penal Code of 2013. The purpose of this study is to critically evaluate the shortcomings of the current criminal policy in consumer protection, to analyze the position of these offenses within the classification system of taʿzīr punishments, and to explain the necessity of transitioning toward a differentiated and protection-oriented criminal policy. The study employs a descriptive–analytical method through a systematic examination of Iranian legislation, relevant judicial practices, jurisprudential texts related to leniency, and comparative literature on cyber law. The findings indicate that classifying consumer-related offenses within fifth- and sixth-degree taʿzīr punishments deprives them of essential leniency mechanisms of criminal policy, such as postponement of sentencing, suspension of punishment, alternatives to imprisonment, and the institution of repentance, thereby undermining proportionality, efficiency, and justice in criminal responses. Moreover, the distinctive characteristics of electronic commerce—including relative anonymity, the involvement of third parties, and dependence on technical processes—have been overlooked, resulting in the failure to establish an effective differentiated criminal policy. The findings further show that mere criminalization and the imposition of monetary penalties paid into the state treasury are ineffective in reducing consumer vulnerability. In conclusion, the article proposes a three-tier model consisting of technical prevention, professional oversight, and consumer support and compensation as a desirable framework for criminal policy; a model that can enhance public trust, strengthen the security of electronic transactions, and contribute to reforming the existing legislative approach.

Journal of Historical Research, Law and Policy

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From Ex Post Liability to Ex Ante Obligation: An Analysis of the Legal Nature of Governmental Duties in the Prevention and Mitigation of Damages Caused by Unforeseeable Incidents in Iranian and United States Law

A Jurisprudential and Ethical Analysis of Spouses’ Right to Procreation and Population Growth

Pragmatism and Perfectionism in the Development of the Rule of Action in Criminal Law with a Focus on Judicial Practice

Examination of Citizenship Rights and Legitimate Freedoms in the Legal System of the Islamic Republic of Iran with a Jurisprudential Approach and in Light of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Barriers to the Implementation of E-Governance in the Iranian Legal System

Examining the Position of Individual Security in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems

Legal Requirements of Trawl Fishing in International Law: Presenting an Optimal Model in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman

Revisiting Contract Interpretation in Light of Critical Legal Studies

Pathology of the Approbatory Supervision System over Elections in Iran with Emphasis on the Indicators and Principles Enshrined in the General Election Policies

Examining and Analyzing the Dimensions of Digital Crimes from the Perspective of the Mental Element

Analysis of the Legal Status of Sham Transactions (Wash Trades) in the Stock Exchanges of Iran and the United States

Challenges of Iran’s Judicial Criminal Policy in Ḥadd Crimes and Proposed Solutions

Legal Consequences of the Western Coalition’s Use of Force Against the Houthis in Yemen

Comparative Study of Rent-Seeking in the Criminal Justice Systems of Iran and England with Reference to International Instruments

A Reflection on the Grounds for the Abatement of Qiṣāṣ of Life and Limb in the Iranian Islamic Penal Code

Analysis of the Effect of Organizational Structure Components on Drug Use Deterrence in Prisons: A Case Study of Isfahan County

Evaluation of the Government’s Role in Providing Housing for Low-Income Groups from the Perspective of Development Laws (Case Study: Mehr Housing Policy)

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