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2 January 2012 - 14:18

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will attend the International Day of Norouz ceremony to be held in Tajikistan, Iranian ambassador to Dushanbe said on Sunday.

Ali Asghar Sherdoust noted that Ahmadinejad will also inaugurate a number of important projects executed by Iran in Tajikistan.
 
Titled "spring festival", Norouz which marks the new Iranian year begins on March 20. The celebration dates back to more than 3000 years ago.
 
Tajiks and Iranians have been connected historically and culturally for thousands of years. They speak Persian language, which is also the official language of Iran. Due to historical and cultural relations with Iran and the former Iranian empires, Tajikistan is regarded as a part of Greater Iran.
 
"After Norouz was internationally recognized by the UN General Assembly[ in 2010], Iran hosted Norouz Festival for two consecutive years The event was attended by the presidents of those countries which celebrate the originally Iranian ritual each year," Sherdoust said.
 
"As well as the heads of states, several cultural figures including writers and historians from neighboring countries and those which have cultural attachments to Iran participated at the festival," he added.
 
"The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran will attend programs which have been planned by Tajiks mostly to be held in a place called “Norouzgah”. Moreover, he is to launch some projects of Iranian institutes and organizations which have been accomplished in Tajikistan," he Iranian diplomat stated.
 
Sherdoust referred to "House of Iran" is one of these projects which is to manifest Iranian and Islamic culture: "House of Iran has been constructed in an area measuring to more than 20,000 square meter in a very appropriate place which displays various aspects of Islamic-Iranian culture and civilization.”
 
The ties between Iran and Tajikistan were boosted after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the latter’s independence in 1991, as the two nations cooperate together in the energy sector. In 2011 Sherdoust released Tehran's plans to construct a $500 million cement production plant in Tajikistan's Khatlon province.
 
Iran has also encouraged cultural exchange through conferences, media, and film festivals. The officials from both nations have supported stronger ties. In 2011 Iran was the second largest investor in Tajikistan after China.
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News ID 181331