Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was warned by authorities while reading Turkish poetry at the closing ceremony of Tabriz Culture Week in Tehran. Pezeshkian initially stated that he was attending as a guest, not to speak, but upon requests from the audience, he agreed to recite lines from Mohammad Hussein Behcet Tabrizi, known as Shahriar.
Authorities objected to him speaking in Turkish, citing the presence of non-Turkish speakers. While reading lines from the poem Greetings to Heyder Baba in Azerbaijani Turkish, he was handed a warning note. Pezeshkian responded with a smile, saying, “No problem, nothing will happen by reading two Turkish poems,” which was met with applause from the audience.