Mashhad to Host Meeting of Muslim World Mayors
Hossein Kashiri, the head of Mashhad Municipality’s Foreign Relations Department, told IQNA that mayors of 35 cities in 22 Islamic countries will take part in the gathering.
They include the mayors of Najaf and Karbala (Iraq), Muscat (Oman), Karachi and Lahore (Pakistan), Algiers (Algeria), Beirut (Lebanon), and Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), he noted.
Kashiri added that the international meeting is slated to be held on April 21-23 with the aim of enhancing ties between Islamic world cities and promoting cooperation among them.
He went on to say that Mashhad will host the event as part of the programs marking Mashhad, 2017 Cultural Capital of Muslim World for the Asia Region.
In 2011, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), which is associated with the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), launched the initiative for three cities to be named each year as such capitals throughout the countries in Asia, the Arab region, and the African region, which house considerable Muslim populations.
On January 24, 2017, Mashhad was awarded the title by Deputy Director General of the ISESCO Amina al-Hajri at a ceremony attended by ranking Iranian officials and 250 cultural and political figures from 51 world countries.
The other cities bearing the title this year are the Jordanian capital of Amman for the Arab region and the Ugandan capital of Kampala for Africa.
