The need for expansion of cultural, scientific and sports relations with Iran was stressed by Romanian Ambassador to Tehran Christian Teodorescu.
On the sidelines of his visit to the Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF), Teodorescu pointed to the memorandum signed between the two countries on the promotion of bilateral relations and said: “’We learned freestyle wrestling from Iranians and the latter learned a lot from Romanians about Greco-Roman Wrestling. I believe the two countries have high potentials for cooperation in different fields.”
Iran and Romania had signed a MoU in 1964, the details of which are being examined and implemented now, Teodorescu said. He said Tehran and Bucharest will sign another agreement this year that will confirm and complete the previous agreement.
The Romanian envoy also said that a MoU on cultural, scientific and technical cooperation was signed last summer. Teodorescu has strong knowledge of Persian language and history. He graduated in Persian literature at Tehran University.
Collaboration
Meanwhile, Bertrand Morisset, director of the Paris Book Fair, joked that he wants to call (French president) François Hollande and “urge him to lift sanctions on Iran as soon as I get to Paris.”
Morisset who visited the TIBF, met Abbas Salehi, cultural deputy at the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance and TIBF president, and discussed the potentials of the publishing industry in Iran and France, besides the possibility of collaboration.
“I’m glad I visited the TIBF in person as I didn’t know this nation before; book publishing is an international industry, and through it international dialogue must develop,” he said, ISNA reports.
He also said he finds the misinformation against Iran in French media unfounded and noted that the TIBF is attended by “five times the number of people who attend the Paris Book Fair.” “Iranians write from right to left, and we in the opposite; somewhere in the middle we are bound to meet.”
He cited Iran’s reluctance to abide by the copyright by joining the Berne Convention, as one of the biggest impediments to collaboration. “Protection of literary and artistic works is the foundation of the publishing industry.”
He suggested that Iran can participate in the Paris Book Fair this year as a guest invitee so as to mark a starting point for bilateral partnership where “publishers of both nations can get to know each other better.” Iran cinema is better known than its literature among the French.
