Iran's Kurdistan seeks Kurdish language foundation
Shafaq News- Tehran
The governor of Iran's Kurdistan province, Arash Zare-Tan Lahouni, urged authorities on Sunday to speed up approval of a proposed Kurdish Language and Literature Foundation –a demand of local academics and cultural figures, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported.
Speaking at a meeting of the provincial Public Culture Council in Sanandaj attended by Abdolhossein Khosropanah, secretary of Iran's Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, Lahouni said he had discussed the proposal last year with Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, head of Iran's Academy of Persian Language and Literature, and hoped the foundation would be inaugurated during Khosropanah's next visit to the province but gave no opening date.
According to the Kurdistan governor's office, the proposal was included in the provincial Public Culture Council's resolutions in 2025, although final authorization remains pending.
The foundation could help strengthen Iranian-Islamic identity, social cohesion and public confidence, Lahouni said, linking the initiative to the province's broader goals of promoting coexistence and public participation. The province has continued holding cultural events despite limited funding and has added further activities to its cultural program, he added.
Under Article 15 of Iran's Constitution, Persian is the country's official language, while regional languages may be used in the media and their literature taught in schools. The University of Kurdistan in Sanandaj introduced an undergraduate program in Kurdish language and literature in 2015.
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