18th general assembly of OANA kicks off in Tehran

The OANA meeting in Tehran started on Monday morning in Tehran with Iranian Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Mehdi Esmaeili's speech.

Around 60 senior directors, managers, and editors from 35 OANA member-states are present at the two-day general assembly of OANA and will discuss various topics, including the development and strengthening of media cooperation.

Three Iranian news agencies - Mehr News, Fars News and Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) are members of the organization. The Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) voted in favor of IRNA's nomination for the presidency at the 17th General Assembly meeting in Seoul, South Korea.

The Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies is an association of news agencies from UNESCO member states in the Asia-Pacific region. It was previously known as the Organization of Asian News Agencies. It was formed in 1961 on UNESCO's initiative.

The organization covering two-thirds of the world population has now 43 members from 35 countries in Asia and Oceania.

Iran, as a long-standing member, was the rotating president from 1997 to 2000