"Chopin Night observed in Tehran"

According to the Supreme Leader: "Although music is halal, promoting and teaching it is not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic." Mehr News and other officially Khomeinist News Agencies, however, like to present Iran as an arts-friendly place. There is a propaganda aspect, obviously, to this little disconnect, but that may not be all:

The world continues to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Frederic Chopin, piano virtuoso and one of the world’s greatest composers, and Iran is no exception.

Iranian Bokhara magazine in collaboration with the Polish Embassy in Tehran arranged ‘Chopin Night’ on Thursday at the Tehran Conservatory of Music where selections from compositions by the renowned child-prodigy pianist were played.

Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), the Polish composer and pianist of the Romantic period, is best known for his piano solos and concerti. Although he composed little music other than for piano, many of which are brief, Chopin ranks as one of music’s greatest tone poets by reason of his superb imagination and fastidious musical craftsmanship.

The ceremony was attended by Bokhara Managing Director Ali Dehbashi, Polish Ambassador to Tehran Juliusz J. Gojlo, Tehran Conservatory director Behzad Moafi, Polish collector Krzysztof Dydo and several musicians.

Dehbashi made the opening speech and said, "Musicians around the world are celebrating the 200th birth anniversary of Chopin, from his birth place in Poland, to Austria, France, and Britain and finally reaching as far as China and Japan. Not only has his music failed to fade away with the passage of time, but on the contrary it has increased in fame in today’s contemporary world."

Ambassador Gojlo next expressed his gratitude to Bokhara magazine, the major organizer of the event, and said, "Iran and Poland have a common background in history. Like Poland, our country also struggled for freedom. We are also proud of our history, Chopin is world famous, but he is also special for us since he is Polish." [...]

The sentence beginning "Like Poland" should read "Like Iran"? I sometimes wonder if anyone reads this stuff besides me.