TEHRAN -- Siamak Hatami, the first Iranian conqueror of the North Pole, returned to Moscow after determining the qiblah (the direction which Muslims face while praying) and planting the honorable flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran there. Hatami's trip to the North Pole took 13 days and he finally returned to Iran on May 2.

Hatami said, "I had been thinking about this trip for ten years and finally found a group heading for the North Pole on the internet. Since they planned this trip about six months ago, I had little time left, and only God's help made them accept me as one of the members of their group.

"I can not describe my feeling of being the first Iranian to conquer the North Pole. My best memory of this trip is of planting the flag of my country there. All the members of the group were fascinated by this symbolic deed done by a Muslim."

Hatami believes that the presence of representatives of different countries at the North Pole under their flags reflects the idea of dialogue among civilizations which was set forth by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. He noted that the camaraderie between group members with different cultures and languages was very interesting.

According to Hatami, the group had 26 members from Russia, Austria, Singapore, Brazil, Germany, Canada, the United States, Denmark, Britain, Italy and Poland. He said that for him the most difficult part of the trip was the first 35 hours, in which they had no food and no rest.