-- “Thanks to Lebanese willingness for the cultural, political and media cooperation with Iran, the country has become one of the major priorities for the cultural activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, said Head of the Islamic Culture and Communication Organization.
Accompanied by a cultural mission to Lebanon, Head of the Islamic Culture and Communication Organizations further added, “Lebanon is an influential state in the region and over the Arab states. It is well prepared to receive religious and cultural works translated into Arabic, which provides us with a good opportunity to expand our cultural activities there and translate and promote books suitable for the children, the youth and other people.”
He believes that a further cultural priority for the Islamic Republic of Iran in Lebanon is to expand joint cultural studies, conduct joint activities on Islamic art issues and teach the Persian language.
Head of the Islamic Culture and Communication Organization referred to the age-old cultural ties between the two countries saying, “Our cultural activities and relations is not limited to the ties with the Lebanese Shia; we have established good relations with our Sunni brothers and exchanged our ideas with them in our trip to Lebanon.
Existence of the various cultures and religions in Lebanon paves the way for us to interact with other religious groups including the Maronites and the Druze, one of whose results could be to enhance interfaith dialogue.
Accompanying Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, Head of the Cultural Commission of Islamic Consultative Assembly, Mr Mostafavi mentioned one of the major objectives of the trip to be unveiling the Encyclopedia Islamica, and added, “The Encyclopedia is compiled in Persian in 13 volumes; translation into Arabic of the first and the second volumes published in Beirut were unveiled in the course of a ceremony attended by Nabih Berri, Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker as well as numerous Lebanese cultural, scientific and religious scholars.”
“In this trip, we visited a great number of Lebanese cultural, scientific and religious figures, which we hope plays a major role in deepening the scientific-cultural relations between the two countries.
Included among the said figures were Sayed Mohammad Hussein Fadhlallah, the Lebanese Shia “Source of Emulation”, Ayatollah Qabalan, the Lebanese Vice-President of Lebanon's Supreme Shia Council, Sheikh Muhammad Qabbani, Mufti of Lebanon, as well as professors of Persian language at the Lebanese universities. The meetings were concerned with the cultural issues and the relations between Iran and the world of Islam”, he maintained.
