TEHRAN – Qatar ambassador to Iran Saad Abdullah Saad al-Mahmoud al-Sharif met with Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic leadership at Tehran’s Ministry of Culture on Monday.
“Fortunately, Iran and Qatar people have always enjoyed good historical relations. The government has benefited from the excellent relations over various decades that continue to this day. Furthermore, we had a strong, consistent cultural relations.”
“Recently we witnessed the successful retention of Iranian Culture Week in Qatar, a well-organized programme to demonstrate how cultural events can strengthen relations between nations and improve relations in government,” he added.
Salehi said the cultural week could be a point of interest for both countries. “We are waiting for Qatar Culture Week to be held in Iran soon, but the cultural week is just one event.
Referring to Iran and Qatar’s media capabilities, Salehi said: “Another area that requires more attention is media, which helps to better portray the two countries. Both traditional and electronic media, including news agencies, news websites and social media platforms, can contribute to a better image of both countries’ capabilities.”
“Mutual visits by media delegations and digital influencers from Qatar to Iran will help improve the already good image that the two countries have for each other,” he added.
Salehi also said of Iran’s artistic and cinematic potential as a strategic region, “One other important capacity in Iranian culture is art and film. As you know, Iranian art and film are successful not only in this region but also in the world.”
“There are numerous film festivals held in Iran, and the cinema field has considerable capacity to share with the government and Qatari people,” the minister said.
Salehi expressed his readiness to cooperate with Qatar’s artistic events, saying, “In a recent meeting with Qatar Minister of Culture, we discussed the participation of Iranian artists in Qatar’s events. We announced that Iranian artists are ready to participate.”
In conclusion, the Minister emphasized that neighbours’ ties and good political and historical relations provide an opportunity to take culture and art more seriously.
Sad Abdullah Sad Al Mahmoud Al Sharif said: “The purpose of today’s conference is to strengthen the cultural and artistic relations between the two countries of Iran and Qatar. We can have a broader relationship.
“We share a lot of cultural heritage between the two countries. The cultural and artistic collaboration between the two countries is so effective that we were able to sign an agreement during the Iranian president’s visit to Qatar last year,” he added.
“One outcome of the agreement was the holding of Iranian Culture Week in Qatar, which attracted a lot of attention and received well-received by both Kataris and Iranians in Qatar,” the Qatar Ambassador pointed out.
The Qatari diplomat said he would like to hold Qatar Culture Week in Iran to further strengthen relations between our two countries, “I would like to mention 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 held in Tehran on May 5, 2025.
SS/SAB