iran
Valentina Simeone hails from the city of Cagliari on the Italian island of Sardinia, but has spent the past six months a world away — in Iran. The 21-year-old became the first ever European Union exchange student to the Middle Eastern country, studying Farsi at Tehran University under the Erasmus Program, a EU student exchange program established in 1987.
![UCLA Iranian Cinema](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/Screen%20Shot%202016-04-05%20at%2010.51.28%20AM.jpg?itok=9KdfOdc5)
President Obama has produced a video every Nowruz in which he directly talks to the Iranian people inside Iran as well as the Iranian diaspora. His messages have not always been the most appealing, but in the last couple of years, they have drastically improved to connect with the majority of his audience.
![Haft Seen at the White House- Wikimedia Commons Haft Seen at the White House- Wikimedia Commons](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/Haft%20Seen%20at%20the%20White%20House-%20Wikimedia%20Commons.jpg?itok=ZTWJhll_)
This year's Nowruz message packed a powerful PD punch, says Sohaela Amiri.
Director of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA), Majid Mollanoroozi, said “the first edition of Tehran Art Fair will be held internationally with the attendance and cooperation of the private sector as well as prominent world art galleries in the next Iranian calendar year (to begin on March 20)."
“Sport is among the priorities of the public diplomacy arena [...] Iranian Ambassador to Malaysia Marziyeh Afkham said during a banquet with the Iranian ping pong players at the Iranian Embassy on Saturday. “Sport provides a quick path to understanding the world, and helps the establishment of strong friendship as well as close bonds among nations,” she said.
![Photo reprinted courtesy Leila Nazarian Farhang Foundation](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/Farhang%20-%20Celebrating%20Nowruz%20%281%29.jpg?itok=3TgSFJNT)
Iranian cultural promotion in "Tehrangeles."
![Photo by Reto Fetz | CC BY-NC-SA 2.0](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/11FebTWiPD.jpg?itok=tMlsAF-G)
A look at the benefits of bilateral partnerships and engagement in this PD News roundup.