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Elmo and the Cookie Monster are returning to the Persian Gulf for the first time in 25 years.

On Friday, a new production of “Iftah Ya Simsim,” the Arabic cousin of “Sesame Street” that ended in 1990, will have its premiere on nine channels across the Gulf Cooperation Council countries of the Persian Gulf. The show, like its United States counterpart, aims to use entertainment to set an example for children on issues like obesity and literacy.

In recent years there has been a growing need for a show like this, said Cairo Arafat, managing director of Bidaya Media, which is producing the show in partnership with Sesame Workshop. She added, “There was nothing addressing children in the region and their needs.”

The few similar programs in the Middle East, she said, are made at a low cost and don’t have much to offer in the way of education. Steve Youngwood, chief operating officer of Sesame Workshop, said there are some dubbed versions of Western children’s shows, but the goal of “Iftah Ya Simsim” is to provide something more genuinely Arabic.

As such, Arabic will be spoken on the show — a move to balance the prevalence of English-language programming, Ms. Arafat said. The show will also revive its region-specific characters, like the camel No’maan and the parrot Melsoon.

The show’s themes will also address problems with childhood obesity and diabetes in the Persian Gulf. Not explicitly, Ms. Arafat said, but by demonstrating self-respect and control. No’maan, for example, is overweight but incredibly active; children could find that empowering, she said. After all, Mr. Youngwood said, “media is one of the most powerful vehicles” for that kind of education.

“Iftah Ya Simsim” first aired in 1979, and was relatively popular up to its end during the Gulf War, Ms. Arafat said. Its studios in Kuwait City were bombed when Iraq invaded. “That’s what war does,” she said. In the aftermath, the show didn’t continue because of the rift among Middle Eastern countries.

Over time the political climate changed, as did the feasibility of the show’s return. Ms. Arafat said talks to revive “Iftah Ya Simsim” go back to the early 2000s, though the current production didn’t begin in earnest until about five years ago.

Now that the show is back, Ms. Arafat said, the gateway is open for more educational programming. “We live in such a conflict-ridden part of the world,” she said. “There’s so much we can do to educate children who build a better future.”