The contenders this morning were from Bangladesh, Thailand, Chad, Iraq, Cameroon, Lebanon, Mauritania, Nigeria, Egypt, and the Netherlands, among others.
In the afternoon, competitions in the memorization category will begin. They will run until Thursday afternoon.
The arbiters of the contest are from Iran, Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon and Indonesia.
The Iranian members of the panel of judges evaluate the performances from an Awqaf and Charity Affairs Organization building in Tehran while the foreign Quran experts contribute to the evaluation process via Skype.
A total of 120 contenders from 70 countries are competing in the semifinals.
In the preliminary stage, there were 600 contenders from 70 countries.
Iran’s Awqaf and Charity Affairs Organization annually organizes the international Quranic event with the participation of Quran activists from various countries.
Qaris and Quran memorizers from over 80 countries took part in the 36th edition, held in Tehran in April 2019.