The city is most famous and revered for housing the tomb of Imam Reza, the eighth Imam of Shiite Muslims. Millions of domestic and foreign pilgrims visit the Imam Reza shrine and pay tribute to him every year, according to IRNA.
ISESCO which is affiliated to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), designated Mashad as the cultural capital of the Islamic world in Asia for 2017.
Official ceremonies to mark the official beginning of activities of Mashad as the capital of the Islamic world in Asia started on Tuesday with the participation of over 250 political and cultural figures from 51 world countries as well as Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Reza Salehi-Amiri.
The ISESCO official told IRNA on Wednesday, there is no need to introduce Mashad (capital of the Khorasan Razavi Province, northeastern Iran) to others as it is well known to all Muslims.
Al-Hajri added that the quality of Mashad 2017 inaugural ceremonies was very much higher than what she expected.
She said that the existing spirituality among Mashad residents and their proper interaction with visitors were major characteristics that have distinguished the city from other places.
The ISESCO official further noted that the main objective behind selecting cultural capitals from among the Muslim cities is to build a suitable ambience for strengthening culture and nurture cultural talents in the fields of history and civilization.
The ISESCO mainly focuses on cultural activities and it hopes that future generations would experience a world with minimum unrests and disputes with the help of cultural activities.
When nations close their ranks to each other in terms of cultural aspects, this would minimized the possibility of enemies success in causing any harm for them, Al-Hajir said.
The ISESCO was founded by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in May 1979. With 52 member states, the ISESCO is one of the largest international Islamic organizations and specializes in the fields of education, science, and culture. Its headquarters are in Rabat, Morocco.
EghtesadOnline: Deputy Secretary General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) Amina al-Hajri has said that Mashhad deserves to be the cultural capital of the Islamic world in 2017 as it is distinguished for its rich culture and other historical capacities.