Iran chairs Ancient Civilizations Assembly meeting

A press release of the members of the assembly, prepared and compiled at Iran’s initiative, was approved by the member states during the meeting, and the representatives of the countries delivered speeches afterwards.

In his address to the meeting on Saturday, Amir-Abdollahian said the initiative of the Ancient Civilizations Assembly was an excellent move for a better, more cultural and peaceful world and expressed hope that the assembly would help create an atmosphere of peace and tranquility, understanding and multilateralism more than ever before.

He stressed that inter-civilizational and cultural cooperation is a valuable element of soft power for member states to stop conflicts and violence, extremism and help tackle global problems.

The Iranian foreign minister further expressed his concern about the ongoing smuggling of historical property and cultural heritage, and stressed that necessary measures should be taken to prevent the trend.

He also emphasized on planning to employ technological and artificial intelligence achievements to help preserve tangible and intangible cultural heritage of ancient civilizations.

Meanwhile, Amir-Abdollahian stated that the repeated sacrilege of the Holy Quran and the silence of some governments, out of complacency, are a result of the evil political goals to mar the atmosphere of interaction and understanding between the nations, and reiterated that the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns such actions in strongest terms.

He added the Islamic Republic expects responsible governments to play their role and preserve civilized, cultural and religious interaction and understanding between nations by criminalizing and prosecuting the perpetrators of the sinister acts.

The Iranian foreign minister, in the end, said the next meeting of the ministers of the Ancient Civilizations Assembly will be held later this year on December 21 in Tehran, and invited the ministers of the member states to take part in the event.

The Ancient Civilizations Assembly was established in 2017 with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Armenia, Italy, Bolivia, Peru, Iraq, Egypt, Mexico and Greece as its member states.

The Islamic Republic of Iran holds the presidency of the assembly in 2023.

MNA/MFA