TEHRAN – Jakarta’s new ambassador to Tehran, Ronny Prasetyo Yuliantoro, has hailed the historic relations between Indonesia and Iran, saying the bilateral relations in the fields of culture and commerce date back to centuries ago.

Yuliantoro made the remarks during a webinar attended by Indonesian citizens of Iran on Friday, after submitting his credentials to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

During the webinar, he asked Indonesian citizens of Iran to become ambassadors of public diplomacy in Iran in order to further deepen the ties between the two nations.

He expressed his country’s readiness to deepen cultural relations with Iran, saying the two countries have vast untapped potential for establishing cultural communications.

Pointing to the coronavirus pandemic, the envoy said Iran has a great capacity for producing equipment to fight the deadly virus and enjoys a successful experience in fighting with the disease.

The Indonesian ambassador expressed the hope that the two sides expand their cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus.

During the webinar, a number of representatives of different Indonesian groups residing in Iran also expressed their views on different issues.

The representative of Indonesian students living in Iran welcomed the new ambassador and spoke about the situation of Indonesian students living in Iran.

A representative from the Indonesian Women's Association in Iran also spoke at the virtual meeting and expressed gratitude for the actions of the Indonesian embassy in supporting Indonesian families residing in Iran, especially for the embassy’s timely actions in providing some basic goods for families residing in Iran.

During the webinar, which had nearly 100 participants, the representative of the Gusdurian community in Iran referred to the scientific activities of Indonesian citizens in Iran and the effective academic cooperation between the prominent universities of the two countries and expressed the hope that these relations would be more serious during the new ambassador’s tenure.

MH/PA