Iran and Turkey have inked a cooperation agreement focusing on further expansion of religious relations.

The agreement was signed in the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday between Abouzar Ebrahimi Torkaman, the head of Iran’s Islamic Culture and Communication Organization, and Ali Erbaş, the head of Diyanet or Religious Affairs Directorate, Turkey’s top religious authority.

According to Torkaman, the agreement features 18 articles covering translation and publication of religious books, holding of various events, and teaching of Islamic jurisprudence by Iranian experts at theological faculties in Turkey.

“The trend and circumstances that exist in the world today [reflect] considerable convergence between Turkey and Iran,” he said.

“Our attitude towards Palestine is a shared one,” the Iranian official said, citing one of the common grounds. He added that the two countries also adopt similar approaches towards the issues of terrorism, confrontation against global arrogant powers, and preemption of cultural infiltration.

Speaking at a joint event, Erbaş said, “We mobilize all our resources to fight the sedition that is targeting Muslims, and the measures that are taken by some Muslim countries in the region, which unfortunately compromise Muslims’ esteem and pride.”

Bilateral talks also focused on the issue of exchanging the scriptures that are archived in the countries’ respective libraries.

Unity in the Muslim world in the face of Islamophobia and the measures that are taken to target Islam were among the other issues that were addressed.