Mohammad Reza Norouzpour, managing director of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), made the remarks while hosting Abdul Latif Pedram, leader of Afghanistan’s National Congress Party (NCP), as well as Abed Akbari, chairman of the Abrar Institute of Contemporary International Studies and Research, in Tehran on Sunday.
Norouzpour stressed the need for expansion of mutual cooperation between Kabul and Tehran especially in the fields of culture and information dissemination, which would boost development and diplomacy in both friendly countries.
The IRNA chief also expressed readiness to provide Afghan students with educational and cultural courses such as inclusive programs for training news-writing , camera work, film-making and multimedia know-how.
He went on to say that Afghanistan and Iran are two brotherly and neighboring countries, which have numerous historical and cultural commonalities, including Nowrouz and Persian language, adding that the rich literature and language as the second language of Islam is considered part of identity of the nations in the region, namely Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Iran.
Norouzpour emphasized the role of news agencies and newspapers of both countries in expanding bilateral relations.
Expressing concern about certain attempts against the Persian language in the West Asia region, he noted that foreigners have always tried to sow discord among tribes and nations of the region.
He further underlined that "campaign the Persian language is not a campaign against Iranian nationality and ethnicity," noting that the language is one of commonalities of all people residing in the region, and that such a campaign is in fact against identity of several nations.
For his part, Abdul Latif Pedram welcomed Norouzpour's suggestion for expansion of cultural ties, expressing hope that Afghan students could enjoy capacities of the Islamic Republic News Agency in information dissemination.
Pedram, who is known as a politician, author, poet and reporter in Afghanistan and was representing Badakhshan province in the country's parliament, noted that IRNA is a prominent news agency in the eyes of the Afghan people.
The leader of Afghanistan’s National Congress Party is one of the famous Afghan political figures, who opposed the US invasion of his country and also condemned American assassination of Iranian Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on January 2020.
He appreciated Iran for holding the Nowruz Diplomacy meeting, which is scheduled to be held on Monday in order to promote friendship, cultural collaborations and convergence among regional nations, describing the event as an opportunity to bolster amicable ties between Iran and Afghanistan.
Pedram and his entourage took a tour of different sections of the news agency and became acquainted with the procedure of producing news items in 20 languages by IRNA staff.
1424
Follow us on Twitter@irnaenglish
Your Comment