TEHRAN – Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Reza Salehi-Amiri and the undersecretary of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism, Antimo Cesaro, met in Tehran on Tuesday.

Cesaro is in Tehran to supervise the programs arranged by Italy as the special guest at the 30th Tehran International Book Fair, which is Iran’s most important event in the publishing industry.

The two officials discussed the expansion of cultural relations, the Persian service of IRNA reported on Wednesday.

Salehi-Amiri said that Iranian culture ministry is ready for more collaboration with Italy and stressed on inking a cultural memorandum of understanding with Italy. 

He also gave some details about the activities of different departments of his ministry, adding that the Tehran fair is carried out by the cultural department of the ministry.

For his part, Cesaro said that boosting ties between Iran and Italy is necessary due to cultural affinities between the two nations.

He also said that the cinema of Iran is quite well known in Italy and in the world, adding that the choice of Italy as the special guest of the Tehran book fair is a turning point in the history of cultural cooperation between the two countries.

He also proposed the establishment of an Italian cultural office in Iran, which can help boost ties between the two countries.

The 30th Tehran International Book Fair opened on Tuesday with a message from Sergio Mattarella, the president of Italy. The fair will be running until May 13 at the Shahr-e Aftab Fairground.

Photo: The undersecretary of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism, Antimo Cesaro (L) and Iranian Culture Minister Reza Salehi-Amiri (R) meet in Tehran on May 2, 2017.

RM/YAW