TEHRAN – Iran and Mongolia plan to bridge the gap on culture between the two countries by collaborating on publications and organizing mutual cultural meetings.

The decision was made during a meeting held at the Book City Institute in Tehran on Monday.

P. Delgerjargal, the vice director of the Humanities Department of the School of Arts and Sciences at the National University of Mongolia, and history professor Danuu Ankhbayar met deputy director of the institute Ali-Asghar Mohammadkhani and scholar Mahmud Jafari at the meeting. 

Mohammadkhani said that the institute has so far collaborated on publications and cultural activities with about 40 countries. 

He added that Iranian people are not very familiar with Mongolia and its poetry and literature, while the Mongolian nation has little knowledge about Persian literature.

For his part, Delgerjargal said that the National University of Mongolia has several departments on European and Asian languages including German, French, English, Japanese and Turkish, while there is no department for the Persian language.

He noted that works by Persian poets Ferdowsi and Khayyam are currently being taught for students studying Eastern literature, but this seems like nothing considering the widespread popularity of Persian literature.

He added that the only book translated into the Mongolian language is the book “Akhbar-i Mughulan” compiled by historian scholar and manuscript expert Iraj Afshar.

In this meeting, he also introduced several Mongolian writers and publishers and hoped that the institute can help pave the way to introduce more Mongolian writers and poets, while it can help to provide opportunities to familiarize the Mongolian nation with Persian writers.

Photo: Mongolian scholars P. Delgerjargal (1st L) and Danuu Ankhbayar (2nd L) hold talks with Book City Institute deputy director Ali-Asghar Mohammadkhani (1st R) in Tehran on January 14, 2019.

RM/MMS/YAW