TEHRAN - Seventeen foreign tour groups from nine countries have paid visits to the Fatima Masumeh Shrine in the city of Qom over the past week, the shrine’s international affairs office said.

Kamal Soraya-Ardakani, head of international affairs at the Fatima Masumeh Shrine, said the visitors came from Russia, Poland, Spain, China, Turkey, Britain, Italy, Tunisia and Zimbabwe, according to the Hawzah News Agency.

Soraya-Ardakani said the visitors arrived in 17 organized tour groups and toured different sections of the shrine complex.

He said the groups were introduced to Islamic and Iranian culture and architecture during their visits.

Soraya-Ardakani added that the shrine’s international affairs office provided services to foreign visitors by arranging multilingual guides and distributing informational booklets in several languages.

The Fatima Masumeh Shrine, located in Qom province, is the mausoleum of Fatima bint Musa, sister of Imam Reza (AS), the eighth Shia Imam. The shrine is a major religious site in Shia Islam and attracts millions of pilgrims each year.

Qom is regarded as one of the most important religious cities in Iran and hosts tens of seminaries and religious schools.

AM