TEHRAN - The first conference of Association of Persian Language Societies opened yesterday in Tajikistan.

A number of cultural figures and scholars from Iran, Tajikistan, Germany, China, Armenia, the U.S. and Uzbekistan are among the participants at the conference.

Contemporary culture, pre-Islamic culture, ideology and ideals of Shias, sources of epics of Iran, ta'zieh (passion play), various Farsi dialects in Central Asia, and roots of the socio-political movement of contemporary Iranian history are among lectures delivered at the conference.

The conference - jointly sponsored by the Tajikistan Science Academy, Roudaki Language and Literature Institute, and the Soroush Foundation -- ends tomorrow.