TEHRAN- The Qatari Ambassador to Iran Saad Abdullah Saad Al Mahmoud Al Sharif met with the Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi at the Ministry of Culture in Tehran on Monday.

“Fortunately, the people of Iran and Qatar have always enjoyed good and historical relations. The governments have also benefited from excellent relations over different decades, which continue to this day. Moreover, we have had consistent and strong cultural relations,” Salehi was quoted as saying by Mehr.

“Recently, we witnessed the successful holding of Iran's Cultural Week in Qatar. It was a well-organized program that demonstrated how cultural events can strengthen relations between nations and improve governmental ties,” he added.

Salehi went on to say that cultural weeks can be a point of interest for both countries. “We are waiting for Qatar's Cultural Week to be held in Iran soon. But a cultural week is just one event; broader actions can be defined for our relations,” he noted.

Referring to the media capabilities of Iran and Qatar, Salehi said: “Another area that needs more attention is media, which can help better portray the two nations. Both traditional and electronic media, including news agencies, news websites, and social media platforms can contribute to better imagery of the capabilities of both countries.”

“Mutual visits by media delegations and digital influencers from Qatar to Iran and vice versa will help improve the already good image that the two nations have of each other,” he added.

Salehi also mentioned Iran's artistic and cinematic potential as a strategic area, stating: “Another significant capacity in Iranian culture is its art and cinema. As you are well aware, Iranian art and cinema are successful not only in the region but also globally.”

“Numerous film festivals are held in Iran and there are significant capacities in the field of cinema that can be shared with the government and people of Qatar,” the minister stated.

Salehi expressed readiness to collaborate with Qatari artistic events, and said: “In our recent meeting with the Qatari Minister of Culture, we discussed the participation of Iranian artists in Qatari events. We announced that Iranian artists are ready to participate”.

In conclusion, the minister emphasized that neighborly ties and good political and historical relations provide an opportunity to take culture and art more seriously.

For his part, Saad Abdullah Saad Al Mahmoud Al Sharif said: “The purpose of today's meeting is to strengthen the cultural and artistic relations between the two nations of Iran and Qatar. Given that we are neighboring countries, we can have even broader relations. As you know, the southern regions of Iran have close connections with Qatar.”

“We have many shared cultural heritages between the two nations. The cultural and artistic collaborations between our two countries have been so effective that we were able to sign an agreement during the Iranian President's visit to Qatar last year,” he added.

“One of the results of this agreement was the holding of Iran's Cultural Week in Qatar, which attracted significant attention and was well received by both Qataris and Iranians residing in Qatar,” the Qatari ambassador noted.

Referring to his eagerness to hold Qatar's Cultural Week in Iran to further strengthen the relations between our two nations, the Qatari diplomat stressed: “I will refer all the proposals raised to the Ministry of Culture and the relevant authorities in Qatar so that they are considered and implemented.”

Photo: Seyyed Abbas Salehi (L) and Saad Abdullah Saad Al Mahmoud Al Sharif meet in Tehran on May 5, 2025.

SS/SAB