RIYADH, 28 December 2004 — For the first time, an “Iranian Cultural Week” will be held in Riyadh from Saturday. The event, to be sponsored by the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and Iran’s Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO), is part of a strategy to boost cultural links between the Kingdom and Iran.
“The event will promote cultural relations between two major members of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC),” diplomatic sources said here. More than 50 prominent Iranian cultural figures will participate.
“This event will play an important role in promoting Riyadh-Tehran relations”, said the sources, adding that Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Masjed Jamei and ICRO Chairman Mahmud Mohammadi Araqi will be among those attending.
An Iranian exhibition featuring a range of cultural items such as rare copies of Holy Qur’an and Qur’an software, paintings, calligraphy, carpet portraits, handicrafts, books and stamps will be organized at King Fahd Cultural Center. Films and documentaries focusing on the Iranian and Persian culture will also be shown. This will be in addition to Iranian traditional teahouses to be displayed at the expo. A special pavilion for children and young adults will also be set up to promote youth cooperation.
The sources said that “the status of Makkah and Madinah in Persian literature, the historical references to the Arabian Peninsula in Iranian geographical works, and the architectural designs of Arab mosques used in Iranian mosques are among the topics to be discussed at the event by Iranian and Saudi scholars”.
The week will be officially inaugurated by the culture ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia. A Saudi cultural week was held in Iran two years ago.
Relations between the two Islamic countries have improved substantially since President Mohammed Khatami assumed office in 1997. More than 30,000 Saudis visited Iran this year as tourists. The two countries also signed an agreement in June this year to establish a joint bank. At the moment, there are 18 joint venture projects set up with a capital of more than SR1.2 billion.
