Culture Minister discusses in Tehran activating joint agreements

Baghdad-INA

Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, Hassan Nadhim, discussed Friday activating joint agreements with the Iran.

A statement by the ministry, received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), stated that "the Minister of Culture, Hassan Nadhim, began his visit to the Iranian capital, Tehran, with a meeting with Dr. Muhammad Mahdi Imanipour, the scientific and cultural representative of the Association for Culture and Islamic Relations, the former deputy head of the World Assembly of Ahl al-Bayt."

 During the meeting, the Minister of Culture stressed that "Iraq looks forward to finding forms of joint cooperation with the Islamic Republic in many areas that show our interest in the common culture that unites the two countries."

He added, "We paid our attention to the visit, given that it came after a long period of interruption due to the health conditions that afflicted the world and both countries due to the Corona pandemic."

 He also added, "The time is right, especially since the Iraqi delegation includes a number of ministry undersecretaries, heads of bodies and general managers, and they represent various sectors of tourism, antiquities, plastic arts, cinema, theater, children's culture, and publishing books and music because of the importance of this visit."

According to the statement, the Minister of Culture stressed that "there is a depth of civilization that links the Iraqi and Iranian peoples, and Iranian scholars have contributed a lot to Islamic civilization, pointing to the importance of joint cooperation between the two countries at the cultural, tourism and artistic levels, especially in the cinema sector."

He explained that "there are Iranian experts in the field of antiquities who have announced their desire to restore the destroyed and damaged Iraqi antiquities, including the site (Taq Kesra), and there are Iranian experts who are members of the Aliph International Alliance team, which is currently undertaking the process of repairing Taq, pointing out that" there is coordination continues in the fields of publishing and religious tourism between the two countries, which carry cultural, economic and social dimensions as well as the religious dimension.”

In turn, Dr. Muhammad Mahdi Imanipour welcomed "the delegation of the Iraqi Ministry of Culture, expressing his happiness with this important visit, which will strengthen the relationship between the two countries on the cultural level.”

  The Iranian side pointed out "the necessity of activating memoranda of understanding in the fields of tourism, antiquities and arts to develop the cultural aspect between the two countries."

 The minister had arrived in Tehran on a working visit at the head of a high-ranking cultural delegation that included the Undersecretary of the Ministry, Nofal Abu Ragheef, the head of the General Authority for Antiquities and Heritage Laith Majid Hussein, the director general of the Cinema and Theater Department Ahmad Hassan Musa, the director general of the Musical Arts Department Alaa Majeed, and the general manager of the public arts department Fakher  Muhammad, and the Director General of Tourist Groups, Jabbar Manlon Al-Gharibawi, and the Director of the International Relations Department of the Tourism Authority, Ali Yassin, to discuss a number of files related to culture, tourism and archeology between the two countries.