Syrian, Iranian relations highlighted

Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Masjed Jamei stressed the importance of enhancing the Iranian-Syrian relations in all domains, particularly in the cultural field.

In a meeting with the Syrian delegation headed by Minister of Culture Mahmoud al-Sayed on Saturday, Jamei underlined the importance of activating dialogue among civilizations between Syria and Iran and the regional states.

For his part, Sayed stressed Syria's keenness on bolstering bilateral relations with Iran, particularly in the cultural field, pointing out that dialogue among the Islamic peoples is the best way to deal with the problems.

On the sideline of the Syrian Cultural Week, which was kicked off on Saturday, Jamei expressed hope that the cultural weeks will help in finding a suitable ground to strengthen the cultural relations between the two countries.

He added "in the current situation with onslaught of propaganda from the west against Islam, cultural activities are the only response to the negative publicity."

For his part, al-Sayed said " Syria and Iran reject the foreign hegemony and extend the hand of friendship to all the peoples in the world to enhance the human and ethical values."

Al-Sayed pointed out that the Syrian Cultural Week came in the framework of the executive program signed between Syria and Iran to tighten their cultural relations.

In the inauguration ceremony, Head of Iran's Islamic Culture and Relations Organization Mohammadi Araqi stressed the historical and cultural important position of Syria in the Islamic World and in the region. He added that Syria and Iran are the cradle of cultures and civilizations, calling for unifying ranks of the Islamic countries.

For his part, Syria's Ambassador to Iran Hamed Hassan indicated that the Cultural Week is a suitable opportunity to enhance the cultural relations between the two countries and to exchange views among the intellectuals from the two sides. He added that the Week represents the will of the Leaders of the two countries led by President Bashar al-Assad and Iran's President Mohammed Khatami to enhance joint cooperation between the two countries. The Syrian Cultural Week which started from May 28, will last until June 6.