There are many commonalities between the beauties."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Ever since establishment in 1950, the bilateral ties between Iran and Indonesia have flourished and witnessed development in not just sectors entailing government-to-government relations, but also people-to-people contacts.

Indonesia-Iran relations are particularly important because both nations, as Muslim-majority countries, are responsible for representing the Islamic world globally, despite differences in their religious orientation. Indonesia has the largest Sunni population in the world, while Iran is the only Shiite majority nation in the world.

However, both countries agree that despite them following different sects, they share only one religion, Islam.

Diplomatic relations have been established since 1950. Indonesia has an embassy in Tehran and Iran has an embassy in Jakarta. Both countries are full-fledged members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), The Non-Aligned Movement, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and Developing 8 Countries.

The two countries, through their respective news agencies, have even agreed to highlight these developments in bilateral ties through a joint photo exhibition.

The Indonesian news agency, ANTARA and Iranian private news agency, Mehr News Agency (MNA) had agreed to jointly hold a photo exhibition to promote the potential of the two countries.

Under the theme, the two news agencies have successfully organized their first joint photo exhibition with the theme "the Tales of 2 Cities." ANTARA held the event in September-October, 2013, at its photo gallery in Jakarta, and MNA is organizing the one-month exhibition at the Saba Art and Cultural Institute in Tehran, commencing March 1, 2014.

The joint photo exhibition is part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between ANTARA and MNA, which also promotes exchange visits of journalists and photographers of both news agencies.

The joint photo exhibition was also considered a viable opportunity to establish people-to-people contacts as the two news agencies sent their respective photographers who discussed current issues related to their countries.

ANTARA sent its photographer, Puspa Perwitasari, to Iran to capture images in Tehran in accordance with the theme of the exhibition, and MNA too sent its photographer, Mojtaba Heydari, to Jakarta for the same purpose.

As reported by MNA, Heidari stated at the opening ceremony that the photographs were taken during his nine-day trip to the Indonesian capital in 2013.

"There are many commonalities between the beauties," he added.

Some 75 pictures taken in both cities were then featured at the joint photo exhibition, to highlight the sound relations between Indonesia and Iran.

ANTARA and MNA considered the photo exhibition to be prestigious as it helped to enhance the already-healthy relations between the two countries and their citizens.

The two news agencies are expected to continue this important event in order to further promote the potentials of the two countries in different sectors, such as economy and culture, as they have a lot of similarities in culture and their roles in the global community.

The joint photo exhibition in Tehran was attended by hundreds of people including dignitaries such as Indonesian Ambassador to Iran Dian Wirengjurit and Thai Ambassador to Iran Adisorndej Sukhasvasti.

On the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the joint photo exhibition in Tehran, Ambassador Adisorndej Sukhasvasti informed ANTARA that he was very interested in the event as it can be an effective means to promote the potentials of the two countries in different areas and enhance bilateral relations.

The ambassador elaborated that he was thinking of organizing such a joint photo exhibition through his countrys news agency and those from other countries, especially ANTARA.

Meanwhile, ANTARAs President Director, Saiful Hadi, welcomed the Thai ambassadors idea to hold such a joint photo exhibition that was expected to be organized by ANTARA and Thai News Agency (TNA).

Likewise, Saiful Hadi proposed to the ambassador to organize a joint photo exhibition not only at the bilateral level between the two countries, but also at a regional level, by involving the news agencies in Southeast Asia.

On the occasion, Hadi also thanked the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for providing the Indonesian News Agency ANTARA and Irans Mehr News Agency (MNA) an opportunity to jointly hold the photo exhibition in Tehran.

"I would also like to express our sincere gratitude to our colleagues from Mehr News Agency who have put in great efforts to make the joint photo exhibition possible," remarked Saiful Hadi in the company of MNAs Director, General Reza Moqaddasi, who was visibly happy to organize the exhibition in Tehran.

In the meantime, Indonesian Ambassdor to Iran Dian Wirengjurit pointed out that ANTARA and MNA are playing a strategic role in promoting the relations between the two countries and resolving any misunderstandings as the two Muslim countries follow different sects of Islam, with Indonesia having a mostly Sunni Muslim population, while Iran has a Shiite majority.

"Through the joint photo exhibition, among other journalistic roles, ANTARA and MNA can counter wrong information and interpretations disseminated, to some extent, by the western media about Indonesia and Iran who have a lot of similarities as Muslim countries," the ambassador emphasized.

In addition, such a photo exhibition can provide accurate information about the two countries on many areas of life to their respective citizens, who may not know much about Indonesia and Iran, claimed Dian Wirengjurit, whose hobby is also photography.

According to him, after two years of service as the ambassador to Iran, he himself had witnessed stability across the nation.

"Through the photo exhibition, we can share information and expand cooperation in all areas including those on economy, socio-culture, and politics. And in this regard, ANTARA and Mehr play a strategic role in disseminating information and promoting the two countries," he added. (*)

Reporter: Bambang Purwanto
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2014