TEHRAN -- Iran’s Plan and Budget Organization has announced plans to establish Shahnameh Houses across the country, emphasizing the importance of Persian cultural heritage in preserving and strengthening the language amid rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI).
Hamid Pourmuhammadi, vice president and head of the Plan and Budget Organization, made the announcement at a specialized meeting titled “The Persian Language Ecosystem in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” held at the organization’s headquarters in Tehran.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Abbas Salehi; Vice President for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy Hussein Afshin; president of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel; members of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution; and Persian language and literature experts.
Pourmuhammadi said the initiative aims to introduce Iran’s cultural and civilizational heritage more widely. He stressed that Persian must retain and strengthen its position as AI and emerging technologies reshape global communication and digital environments.
Referring to Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh (Book of Kings), the celebrated Persian epic, Pourmuohammadi highlighted the central role of wisdom in the work. He said Ferdowsi’s use of Persian vocabulary had contributed significantly to the language’s survival and continuity, adding that this legacy should guide efforts to address contemporary technological challenges.
He also announced plans to promote the legacy of other prominent Iranian scholars, including Avicenna and al-Khwarizmi, noting that Iran’s intellectual heritage reflects wisdom, goodwill and service to humanity.
Pourmuhammadi further pointed to the potential of modern technologies to improve national planning, particularly in population and housing censuses and spatial planning. Such tools, he said, could improve data accuracy, reduce costs and help direct investment more effectively.
Haddad-Adel described the meeting as the first of its kind organized by the Plan and Budget Organization since the 1979