TEHRAN – The Chinese ambassador to Iran has hailed an Iranian tribes festival, which is currently underway online, as one of the important events capable of strengthening friendship between the two nations.

The Chinese envoy, Chang Hua, virtually attended the 14th edition of the International Festival of Tribes Culture, saying festivals of this kind can strengthen the Iran-China friendship, Mehr reported on Friday.

This was the second time the top diplomat takes part in the event, which kicked off in Gorgan, the capital of northern Golestan province on Thursday.

“In a message sent to the event online, the envoy pointed to his last year’s presence at the cultural event, saying that he had wished to inform his Chinese friends of the festival after the last year's event but because the event is taking place virtually this year, his wish had come true,” the news agency said.

Live performances, different exhibitions of regional arts, handicrafts, souvenirs, and culinary traditions constitute the core of the event, which will come to an end late on Sunday.

Golestan is reportedly embracing some 2,500 historical and natural sites, with UNESCO-registered Gonbad-e Qabus – a one-millennium-old brick tower – amongst its most famous.

Narratives say the tower has influenced various subsequent designers of tomb towers and other cylindrical commemorative structures both in the region and beyond. The UNESCO comments that the tower bears testimony to the cultural exchange between Central Asian nomads and the ancient civilization of Iran.

AFM/