Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini said on Monday that while drums of war are beaten across the world, friendly and brotherly countries of Iran and Afghanistan are messengers of peace and friendship, IRNA reported.
Addressing a seminar themed 'Night of Ghazni' held in ECO Cultural Institute, he referred to the deep bond between the two nations and said that diverse programs have been drawn up to mark designation of Ghazni as the cultural capital of the Islamic world.
The designation is a suitable opportunity to focus on cultural commonalities and promote Persian language as well as unity between the two nations, the minister said.
Currently, some three million Afghans are living in Iran, he said.
Afghan Information and Culture Minister Makhdoom Raheen also told the same event, "I think that Ghazi will smile again after 1,000 years following the designation of it as the cultural capital of the Islamic world in 2013."
Ghazi has experienced bitter calamities in the past millennium and most of its monuments are on the verge of destruction due to the attacks by enemies, he said.
One of the reasons Ghazni was designated as the cultural capital of the Islamic world is that it has nurtured many great scientists and scholars such as Abu Rayhan Birouni and Sanaei Ghaznavi.