Iran’s ACECR, Russia’s Council of Muftis Sign MoU for Cooperation

MOSCOW (IQNA) – The Iranian Academics’ Quranic Activities Organization (IAQAO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Russian Council of Muftis to enhance joint cooperation between the two sides.

The signing ceremony was held in the Grand Mosque in Moscow on Tuesday during a trip to Russia by a delegation from the Iranian Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR), of which IAQAO is an affiliate.

ACECR Cultural Deputy Saeed Pourali, Iranian Cultural Attaché in Russia Reza Maleki, IAQAO Chief Hamid Saber Farzam and IAQAO Advisor Rahim Khaki were present at the event.

Representing the Russian side were Abbas Roshanev, the international affairs deputy of the Russian Council of Muftis, and Il Dar, who is in charge of the council’s Quranic affairs.

In a meeting prior to signing the cooperation documents, Maleki and Pourali expressed hopes that it will have a positive and constructive role in the development of bilateral cooperation between the ACECR and the Russian Council of Muftis.

Next, Saber Farzam briefed the meeting on IAQAO’s activities, saying the organization comprises five centers and has offices all across Iran.

He referred to holding the biennial international Quran competition for Muslim students as one of the highlights of the organization’s activities, saying five editions of the international event have been held so far.

The Center for Interdisciplinary Quranic Studies is one of the organization’s centers that is active in Quranic research, he said.

Saber Farzam noted that it organized a three-day international conference on interdisciplinary Quranic studies in Tehran earlier this month.

He then highlighted the activities of the other centers, namely, the Center for Growth and Development of Quranic Technologies and Arts, Education Center, and International Quran News Agency (IQNA), and said IQNA is the first specialized Quranic news agency in the Muslim world and the top news agency in the country in terms of the number of the languages it covers.

Concluding his remarks, Saber Farzam proposed jointly organizing the 6^th edition of the international Quran competition for Muslim students with Russia.

The representatives of the Russian Council of Muftis welcomed the proposal, saying they will consider organizing the contest in Moscow or one of the Muslim-majority federations of Russia.

Also, Roshanev lauded the Iranian side’s Quranic activities and asked Iran’s ACECR to share with the council its experiences in areas such as launching religious and Quranic media outlets.

http://iqna.ir/fa/news/3584703