St. Petersburg Institute Signals Interest in New Persian Language Department

The Rector of the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Culture, Turgayev, has expressed the university's interest in establishing a dedicated Persian Language Department, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.

Turgayev raised the proposal during a meeting with Iran's visiting Minister of Culture, part of a broader exchange between officials from the two countries on cultural and academic cooperation.

According to Mehr News, the rector said the institute saw value in offering formal instruction in Persian, which would give Russian students a structured path to studying the language and engaging more directly with Iranian literature, history and the arts.

The report did not specify a timeline for launching the department, how it would be funded or staffed, or whether a formal agreement was signed during the meeting. It is also unclear whether Iranian institutions would provide teaching materials, visiting faculty or scholarships as part of any partnership.

The meeting comes amid continuing cultural and educational contacts between Russia and Iran, with academic exchanges representing one strand of a wider relationship between the two governments.

Neither side has yet announced further steps, and Mehr News did not report a response from Russian federal education authorities regarding the proposed department.