Tehran: Ambassador Todorović met with Ayatollah Dr. Alireza Arafi

Ayatollah Arafi pointed out the role of academic relations in strengthening and developing international interactions and underlined that academic interactions between the two peoples of Serbia and Iran in various fields could play a significant role in strengthening overall bilateral cooperation.

Appreciating the Ambassador's support and activities, the Ayatollah noted that the expansion of interaction and cooperation between Iran and Serbia was an indicator of the Ambassador's effective and special role.

Emphasising the capacities of the holy city of Qom, Ayatollah Arafi pointed out the existance of various intellectual and philosophical schools and that the philosophical foundations of the city of Qom were deep and strong. He described Qom as a large intellectual base of knowledge affecting the whole world and emphasised that more than 100,000 thinkers and scientists in various scientific fields of Islamic sciences and humanities were present in that city and worked on research activities.

He noted that researchers work in more than 300 fields, disciplines, scientific trends and expertise in the Islamic and humanities sectors, that there were 10,000 classrooms and that hundreds of articles and books were published. He pointed out the importance of connecting Qom's intellectual and philosophical potential with universities in the world, especially in Serbia, and said that, in addition to fundamental and philosophical topics, great attention should also be paid to the topics of intellectual importance such as social sciences.

Ambassador Todorović commended the achievements of Ayatollah Arafi's involvement in its work and said that his efforts were a source of inspiration for all who wanted to learn.

During the meeting, Ambassador Todorović emphasised the strong political relations between Iran and Serbia, pointing out that the new government in Serbia would also strive to enhance economic cooperation, improve trade and strengthen economic diplomacy.

The Ambassador also stated that 18 scholarships were given to Iranian students as part of the World in Serbia programme. The news about Ambassador Todorović's meeting with Ayatollah Arafi was reported by several Iranian daily newspapers.