President of Iran Decorated With International Prize of Saint Andrew

The ceremony of presenting the International Prize of St Andrew the First Called - the Dialogue between Civilisations - to President of Iran Mohammad Khatami will take place on Monday. This prize was instituted in 1992 in Russia by the Fund of St Apostle Andrew the First Called under the auspices of the Patriarchate. Since 2000, the prize, with the blessing of Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and All Russia, has received the status of an international prize and was awarded to many outstanding foreigners.

First Deputy Railways Minister of Russia, chairman of the Trusteeship Council of the Russian National Glory Centre Vladimir Yakunin, who is now on a visit in the Iranian capital, will present the prize to Mohammad Khatami. The prize in the form of an order is made of 925 standard silver and decorated with 383 diamonds of a total weight of 8.012 carats.

As Vladimir Yakunin said on arriving in Tehran, "the prize was awarded to Mohammad Khatami in 2002 under the project of the Dialogue between Civilisations. And it was absolutely obvious for Russia in those conditions, when Mohammad Khatami brought forth the idea of a dialogue between civilisations even in 2000 within the United Nations, to consider this well-known politician a man worthy of this prize."