TEHRAN -- Iran plans to submit Shiraz, which is home to the tombs of top Persian classical poets Hafez and Sadi, as a City of Literature in the UNESCO Creative Cities for 2017, the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO announced on Tuesday.

Last Friday, UNESCO announced the designation of 47 cities from 33 countries as new members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

Tartu in Estonia, Ulyanovsk in Russia, Nottingham from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Óbidos in Portugal, Lviv in Ukraine, Montevideo in Uruguay, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Baghdad in Iraq and Barcelona in Spain received the City of Literature honor this year.

In addition, the Iranian cities of Isfahan and Rasht won the honor in the fields of crafts and folk art, and gastronomy respectively.

The network aims to foster international cooperation with and between cities committed to investing in creativity as a driver for sustainable urban development, social inclusion and cultural vibrancy.

Cities within the seven creative fields of crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts and music are selected for the network.

Photo: Tomb of Sadi, Shiraz

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