TEHRAN – The Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) said on Friday that Iran plans to organize a cultural week in Syria in the near future.

ICRO director Mohammad-Mehdi Imanipur announced the plan in a meeting with Syrian Culture Minister Lubanah Mshaweh in Tehran.

He said Iran is also ready to host a Syrian cultural week to help improve mutual understanding between the Iranian and Syrian peoples.

“Syrian government and people are very dear to Iran, and in the Leader of Islamic Revolution’s view, Syria has been seen as the pillar of the resistance front,” he noted.

Imanipur called media cooperation one of Iran’s main priorities, and added that there has been significant progress in the animated film industry, theater, cinema, music and illustration in Iran over the past few decades.

He noted that learning a language can help expand cultural relations between the two countries and added, “According to reports from our cultural attaché in Syria, learning the Persian language has developed in your country, and we request you to support Persian language learning in your schools and academic centers.”

“The main aim of political and economic diplomacy is to improve cultural diplomacy, and we will do our best to expand our relations to a higher level in order to help our people enhance their understanding of each other,” he said. 

On her part, Mshaweh said that Syria represented the world in its ten-year fight against ISIS and expressed her thanks to Iran for the support the country has given to Syrian during the war. She also said that the Syrian people are always respectful of Iran.

She said that Syria is ready to team up with Iran on film projects and added that her country is interested in learning from Iranian filmmakers’ experiences.

There are many people in Syria that can speak Persian, Mshaweh said, and added that Damascus University launched a department for the Persian language in 2008, which has taught many students.

She praised the Iranian Cultural Center in Syria for its great endeavors to promote the Persian language.

Mshaweh invited Imanipur to attend an opening ceremony of the Iranian cultural week in Syria, and said that cultural ties, like the political relations between Iran and Syria, need to be expanded to permit the two nations to remain united in all areas.

Photo: Syrian Culture Minister Lubanah Mshaweh and ICRO director Mohammad-Mehdi Imanipur attend a press conference in Tehran on September 9, 2022, to brief the media about the plans of Tehran and Damascus to expand cultural ties. (ICRO)

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