Iran's Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Ali Asghar Mounesan said on Monday that coronavirus outbreak could not hinder expansion of cultural cooperation between Iran and Austria.

In a meeting with the Austrian ambassador in Tehran Stefan Scholz, he added, "We must not allow the virus to reduce cooperation between the two countries."

Voicing readiness for keeping up cultural cooperation between Iran and Austria, he stressed, "We can continue fulfilling cultural programs by upholding health guidelines."

Complaining about not delivering test kits to Iran due to the sanctions, Mounesan said that imposing political sanctions on food and medicine is inhumane.

"In the field of education, we are interested to use the experiences of the Austrian tourism. Recently, we had a request from Germany to hold an exhibition of salt men in this country. If Austria wants, we can hold this exhibition in Austria after Germany," he said.

Stefan Scholz, for his part, said that a memorandum of understanding was signed with Kish Free Zone Organization to promote economic cooperation on Sunday.

Kish Free Zone expressed interest to host tourism educational courses by the Austrians, he said.

Scholz announced the establishment of the Blue Shield Committee in Iran, citing the establishment of the committee as the main reason for his visit, and asked the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts to support setting up of the committee in Iran as soon as possible.