TEHRAN – Iran and Tajikistan have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand cultural relations.

The MOU was inked by Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili, and Culture Minister of Tajikistan, Zulfiya Davlatzoda, in Tehran last Tuesday, just one day after opening a Tajik cultural festival at the Abbasabad Cultural Complex in the Iranian capital.

In a press conference organized at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall, Esmaeili pointed to the festival and called it a major art and cultural event that can provide a good opportunity to help enhance ties in other areas between the two countries.

“With its new foreign policy, the Iranian government has adopted a positive attitude toward the expansion of relations with the countries in the region,” he said and added, “Over the past year, meetings have been held with the culture ministers of eight countries in the region and several cultural MOUs have also been signed.”

“The Iranian and Tajik people consider themselves a single nation, because they have a common history and feel deep affection for one another,” he noted.

“The Persian language is a key factor linking the nations to each other; Iran and Tajikistan have a joint literary history that can help develop relations between the two countries,” Esmaeili stated.

“There is no limit to the improvement of cultural relations between the countries,” he note and added that Iran is ready to boost ties with Tajikistan on topics such as films, music, books and other cultural issues.

He announced Iran’s plan to organize an Iranian cultural week in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe in the near future.

On her part, Davlatzoda praised Iranian officials for their hospitality, and expressed her thanks to the Tajik and Iranian presidents for their decisions to foster closer relations between the two countries.

As part of the Tajik cultural festival, she said, artists from the country will travel to the Iranian cities of Shiraz and Tabriz to showcase collections of handicrafts and introduce aspects of their cultural heritage to the Iranian people.

Groups of Tajik artists are currently in Iran to give theatrical and musical performances during the weeklong event.

Exhibitions of paintings, photos and Tajik costumes are underway at the festival.

Photo: An ensemble performs a concert during a Tajik cultural festival at the Abbasabad Cultural Complex in Tehran on October 3, 2022. 

MMS/YAW