Russia, Iran to sign deal on film production

MOSCOW. July 4 (Interfax) - Russia and Iran will sign an agreement on cooperation in filmmaking, Russian Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova said following a meeting with the Iranian minister of culture and Islamic guidance.

"We have discussed a number of projects in the sphere of cinematography. We are going to begin with signing an agreement on film production," Lyubimova told reporters.

Both Russian and Iranian film producers need such an agreement, she said.

Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Mehdi Esmaeili, for his part, praised the Iranian Culture Week going on in Moscow, which he says will be "a preamble to a new round of agreements on developing cultural ties between our countries."

"Iran and Russia are strategic allies in the region and we, naturally, must have some very extensive cultural activities in a range of areas [...] We have agreements on developing culture, on developing interaction in the sphere of cinematography and theaters, etc.," he said.