REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesian Minister of Sports Imam Nahrawi and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Goudarzi signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in youth and sports affairs in Teheran, Iran, on Saturday.

In a press statement received by Antara here on Monday, Iranian Minister Goudarzi hailed the signing of the MoU as he believes that Indonesia could stand to gain from Iran that excels in several sporting disciplines such as wrestling, weightlifting, karate, volleyball, football, and futsal.

On the other hand, Iran was optimistic that it could utilize Indonesia's expertise in sports such as badminton and traditional martial arts and even hoped to be able to become the second home of traditional martial arts after Indonesia.

Minister Nahrawi had expressed hope that the MoU could be immediately followed up, adding that with the signing of the agreement, the two countries could start youth exchange programs.

After inking the MoU, the minister, accompanied by Indonesian Ambassador to Iran Dian Wireng Jurit, visited Iran's national training center managed by the National Olympic Committee.

Minister Nahrawi also visited the headquarters of Iran's Federation of Martial Arts and also Iran's Badminton Federation.

At the end of the visit, the minister met leaders of 51 sports federations of Iran facilitated by the Iranian minister.

Nahrawi hoped that the Iranian minister of sports and federation leaders would visit Indonesia.

He affirmed that the signing of the MoU and participation in the meeting of Iran's sports federations upon invitation were considered to be historic and monumental events for the two countries. He further added that he had even been allowed to take part in several sessions of the meeting.

Nahrawi's visit was made in response to the invitation of the Iranian government as a follow up of the meeting between Minister Nahrawi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani when the latter had visited Jakarta and later Bandung to attend the 56th anniversary of the Asia-Africa Conference in April 2015.

At the time, just like the other ministers, Nahrawi too was assigned the task of welcoming and accompanying the Iranian president.

While in Iran, Minister Nahrawi also met Indonesian citizens.

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