Ahmadinejad to attend Noruz festivities in Dushanbe

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe on Saturday to attend the ancient Persian New Year (Noruz) festivities, which will be held on Sunday. The Persian new year started on March 20 this year. Noruz, the ancient celebration of the Persian New Year that begins on the first day of spring, has been registered on the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The occasion is celebrated in Iran, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Albania, Kyrgyzstan, India, Afghanistan, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan. Ahmadinejad visited Dushanbe at the invitation of the Tajik president and inaugurated “the House of Iranians”, which is a cultural complex, in the Tajik capital on Saturday. The complex covers an area of 20,000 square meters. Members of high-ranking Iranian and Tajik delegations also held a meeting on Saturday. The presidents of Iran, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan will attend a trilateral summit in Dushanbe on Sunday. In addition, the three presidents will hold a joint meeting with the Pakistani president on the same day to discuss issues facing Afghanistan.