An international conference entitled "René Guénon and the Revival of the Primordial Tradition" was held on February 17–18, 2026 at the Iranian Institute of Philosophy (IRIP) in Tehran. Originally founded by Seyyed Hossein Nasr in 1974, the institute still hosts enthusiastic readers of René Guénon, notably Babak Alikhani, the scientific secretary of the conference, who leads an annual seminar on Guénon for Iranian students, and Dr. Esmaeil Radpour, co-organiser of the conference and scholar of Chinese esoteric traditions.
Over two days, the papers explored a remarkable range of themes: the desacralisation of psychology, the symbolism of the Companions of the Cave, orientalism and orientality, counter‑tradition, Traditionalist political theory, initiation and socratic education, the symbolism of theatre, Iranian primordial tradition and Shi'a gnosis, the doctrinal function of Michel Valsan, Chinese esotericism, and even the symbolism of the traditional Iranian instrument, the santur. The full programme is available here.
What struck me most was not the thematic diversity but the epistemological attitude towards Guénon himself. In the Western academic world, any discussion on Guénon is typically marked by external critique, historical contextualisation, or outright dismissal. Scholars feel compelled to distance themselves from his "Traditionalist" positions, to deconstruct his claims, or to reduce him to a footnote of esoteric eccentricity. In Tehran, by contrast, Guénon was not studied externally or critically; his thought was accepted a priori, as a valid framework to be applied, developed, or revived.
As the organisers explicitly stated in the description of the conference published online: "Organizing a conference aimed at clarifying the contributions of the French metaphysician René Guénon is not born out of amusement, but of a deep sense of urgency and necessity." The intent was to "awaken and revitalize… the Iranian civilization by restoring its rightful stature among the diverse civilizations." This objective, they say, can only be realized through the revivification, commentary and elucidation of the works of René Guénon, described as a "great sage of our era." This is no small matter, for this exercise took place in Iran, the land where, as the organisers remind us, Suhrawardî, the master of illuminative metaphysics, expressed in his own terms the idea of the primordial tradition: al-khamîrah al-azaliyyah (the eternal leaven). As the conference organisers wrote: "It does not seem difficult to understand that the oriental metaphysics referred to by René Guénon is fundamentally one with the oriental metaphysics (al-hikmat al-mashriqiyya) of Avicenna—and especially with the illuminative metaphysics (ḥikmat al-ishrâq) of Suhrawardî." One could even say that this redeems the university, or rather elevates it to the true worth of its name, for universitas means "whole, totality, universe." In its very etymology, the university carries the ideal of universality. In Tehran, that ideal was realised, the university fulfilled its finality by being an echo of the primordial Tradition, that Knowledge which embraces the totality of all knowledges in their common principle.
One could thus say this was a profoundly "Oriental" conference, in Guénon's own sense of the word, meaning traditional, and it was accomplished in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The proceedings of the conference are to be published in 2027 in the Institute’s journal, aptly titled Sophia Perennis, additional proof, if any were needed, that Guénon’s thought remains alive in Iran.
