As relations between Iran and Mongolia improve, it has become clear that the two countries know very little about each another’s cultural heritage. In order to bridge this gap, Tehran and Ulaanbaatar are  collaborating with publications and organizing joint cultural events.The decision was made during a meeting held at the Book City Institute in the Iranian capital on Monday.

During the meeting, P. Delgerjargal, vice director of the Humanities Department of the School of Arts and Sciences at the National University of Mongolia, and history professor D.Ankhbayar met the deputy director of the Book City Institute Ali-Asghar Mohammadkhani and scholar Mahmud Jafari.

Mohammadkhani said that the institute has so far collaborated on publications and cultural activities with about 40 countries. He added that the Iranian people are not very familiar with Mongolia and its poetry and literature, whilst the Mongolian nation has little knowledge about Persian literature.

In response, P.Delgerjargal said that the National University of Mongolia has several departments on European and Asian languages including German, French, English, Japanese and Turkish, while there is no department for the Persian language.

He noted that works by the great Persian poets Ferdowsi and Omar Khayyam are currently being taught for students studying Eastern literature, but this seems like nothing considering the rich diversity of Persian literature.

He added that the only book translated into Mongolian is “Akhbar-i Mughulan”, which was compiled by historian and manuscript expert Iraj Afshar.

In this meeting, he also introduced several Mongolian writers and publishers and hoped that the institute can help pave the way to introduce more Mongolian writers and poets, while it can help to provide opportunities to familiarize the Mongolian nation with Persian writers.