Iran to fund heritage project in India's Hyderabad

New Delhi, Nov 1, IRNA - The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will fund a Rs. 200-crore project at Hyderabad, capital city of India's Andhra Pradesh state, to develop seven famous tombs of the Nizam period as also Premamati Mosque and Badshahi Ashur Khana as sites of heritage and culture.

Iran has chosen these structures for its project as all of them were
said to have been constructed under the supervision of architects
brought from Iran at that time.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran Syed Mohammad Ali Shaheedi told
reporters after discussions with State Minister for Minorities Welfare
Mohammad Ali Shabbir in Hyderabad Thursday that the proposal for the
project was lying with the Centre and sought the State government's
intervention to facilitate its clearance at the earliest, Hindu
reported here today.

Shaheedi said Iran's ties with India dated back thousands of years and
it had several connections with Hyderabad in particular. The first
consulate in Hyderabad was established by Iran 38 years ago.

"Iranian families here are happy with the Hyderabadi hospitality." He
said, adding, "Our love for India is such that when India is
developed, we feel our own country is developed. We always want to
strengthen our age-old ties with India. To achieve this goal, the
Iranian President visited New Delhi six months ago."