28/02/2016
NEWS STORY
Early last year, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported that Masoud Soltanifar, Vice President and Head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, said there were plans to build a "Formula 1 circuit" on Qeshm Island, said by some to be the location of the Garden of Eden.
The claim was made during a visit to the island, Soltanifar saying that "Formula 1 has a great future in Iran", a claim based on the fact that many young people in the country are now driving.
"It has the potential to become one of the world's most beautiful Formula 1 destination," insisted Soltanifar.
Last weekend, in the build up to 'Manic Monday', the day on which a number of teams finally unveiled their contenders and testing got underway, a follow-up report from the Islamic Republic News Agency slipped under the radar.
According to a report, Mahmoud Seydanlou, the head of Iran's Motorcycle and Automobile Federation, the FIA "has expressed willingness to construct road courses for Formula One races in Iran".
The comment, during a visit to a province in the north of the country, are said to follow expressions of interests on the same issue with "many corporations from Germany and other European countries".
The news agency said that Seydanlou hopes that ongoing negotiations will lead to "a comprehensive plan on the issue within a month".
All this in a week in which, ahead of the country's elections, a Death to England rally was held.