TEHRAN – The Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Abbas Salehi, met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Medinsky in St. Petersburg on Thursday.

Salehi expressed his thanks over the support from the Russian Culture Ministry for organizing an Iranian cultural week in Russia, and said that Iran is ready to help the country organize a Russian cultural festival in Iran, the Persian service of IRNA reported on Thursday.

He also stressed the need to organize mutual book fairs in Russia and Iran.

“Organizing the book fairs complement the cultural festivals, and are ways to help people of both countries learn more about each other,” he said.

Salehi is in Russia to attend the 7th St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, which opened on Thursday and will run through Saturday.

“St. Petersburg is familiar to the Iranian cultural community, and this trip will undoubtedly leave numerous impressive images of the city in our minds,” he noted.

Medinsky thanked Salehi for his attendance at the St. Petersburg forum and announced Russia’s readiness to expand cultural relations with Iran.

The forum is organized by the government of St. Petersburg with the support of Russia’s Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Several thousand cultural experts, actors, filmmakers, musicians, public figures, representatives of government and business, and academics from all over the world are attending the forum.

Photo: Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky (L) and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Salehi (2nd L) meet in St. Petersburg, Russia on November 15, 2018. (IRNA)

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