TEHRAN -- The director of the National Library of Turkey, Zülfi Toman, heading a cultural delegation arrived in Tehran on Wednesday to visit some Iranian cultural organizations and officials during his three-day sojourn in Iran.

Toman and his colleagues were warmly received by officials from the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) at the Imam Khomeini International Airport, the chairman of the NLAI director’s office, Amin Arefnia, told the Persian service of MNA.

The delegation paid a visit to the NLAI, and Toman and NLAI Director Reza Salehi-Amiri discussed expansion of relations during a meeting.

In a press conference held at the NLAI, Toman called Persian poet Rumi an international personality and added that his masterpiece, Masnavi-ye Manavi, should be inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register list jointly by Iran and Turkey.

He said that there is a great deal of common ground between Iran and Turkey on cultural issues.

Afterwards, Salehi-Amiri accompanied the delegation in a visit to the Miras-e Maktub Research Center, a Tehran-based organization active in correction and publication of rare Persian manuscripts.

Tehran’s Malek Museum and Library, one of Iran’s richest centers for rare Persian and Arabic manuscripts, and the Book City Institute also hosted Toman and his colleagues during the first day of their visit to Iran.

The delegation will leave Tehran for Qom Province today to visit the governor general and Al-Mustafa International University, a major academic center for Islamic studies, and the Grand Library of Ayatollah Marashi Najafi.

During the last day of their stay in Iran, the group is scheduled to visit the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini located about 20 kilometers southwest of Tehran and then they will be heading to Mashhad, the northwestern Iranian city that is home to the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) and the Astan-e Qods Razavi Library and Museum.

Toman will also hold talks with the officials of the museum and library.

Photo: The director of the National Library of Turkey, Zülfi Toman (L) presents a book to NLAI Director Reza Salehi-Amiri in a meeting in Tehran on November 18, 2015. (Tasnim/Foad Ashtari)

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