Over one hundred foreign guests will surely attend the congress, said secretary of the event Mohammad-Hossein Imani-Khoshkhu in a press conference held at the Iranian Institute of Wisdom and Philosophy on Sunday. The name of the first guest was not released in the news. In a statement published last week, UNESCO announced that it would not take part in the World Philosophy Day events, which is scheduled to be held from November 21 to 23 in Tehran.

“Despite all attempted sabotage by the Zionists, World Philosophy Day will be held in a more impressive manner this year than in past years,” the Iranian ambassador and permanent delegate of the Islamic Republic of Iran to UNESCO Mohammadreza Majidi told the Persian service of IRNA on Thursday. Only two invited guests have refused to attend the congress, one of whom claimed to be sick, Imani-Khoshkhu said.

“Articles by scholars from Germany, the United States, Nigeria, Turkey, Australia, Lebanon, Sweden, Brazil, Austria and several more are approved and the scholars are expected to take part in the event,” he remarked.

The congress will open on November 21 and Iranian scholars Gholamreza Avani and Reza Davari-Ardakani and several foreign scholars whose names were not mentioned in the report are expected to speak on the opening day. A series of theses by students of philosophy, a collection of historical manuscripts, as well as books published by foreign writers on philosophy will go on exhibit at the side section of the three-day program.

Participating guests will also attend a performance by the Tehran Symphony Orchestra (TSO) at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on the first evening of the congress on Sunday. Visiting the historical city of Isfahan is also arranged for participants on Wednesday November 24, he concluded.

A number of academics, which were then joined by the European nations and the United States, reportedly called for boycotting the event due to the Iranian government’s actions toward the opposition in the 2009 post-election unrest.