Iranian film ‘Son Of Man’ by Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Mir Hosseini, has entered the official section of Ischia Global Film Festival in Italy.

Produced by Vahid Dalili’s Dalili Group, the film follows the story of Azar, who following her divorce gives birth to a baby girl, Armita. With the support of her only friend Azar transitions, becoming Ahoura and bringing Armita up as her father.

Behnam Sharafi, Majid Potki, Paria Mardanian and Hadi Eftekharzadeh are among the cast members of the film.

The Ischia Global Film Festival is one of the most popular summer film events in the world which is scheduled to be held from July 10 to 17, 2022 with the presence of well-known actors. /MNA/

After garnering dozens of honors at international events for “A Hero”, Asghar Farhadi scored his first domestic award for this acclaimed drama at the 1st Iran Screen Directors Celebration on Sunday.

The gala has been initiated by the Directors Guild of Iran to select the best directors of the year in cinema and home video network productions.

Due to his working on a new project abroad, Farhadi could not attend the celebration, however, he joined his colleagues via a live video link.

“I congratulate all friends whose films were judged at this celebration, and I send my grateful thanks to those people who make us interested in cinema; those people who laid the cornerstone of Iranian cinema,” Farhadi said.

Mohsen Tanabandeh, an “A Hero” star, received the award on the behalf of Farhadi.

Cinema Organization of Iran director Mohammad Khazaei was among the guests during the celebration, which was held at the Esteqlal Hotel.

In his short speech, Mohsen Amir-Yusefi, the president of the Directors Guild of Iran, criticized the critical conditions confronting Iranian cinema, and expressed his hope that the Cinema Organization of Iran would pave the ground for better domestic productions.

The award for best first-film director went to Bahman and Bahram Ark for their joint film “Skin”, a tale of love, magic and superstition.

Tina Pakravan was also honored for her series, “Once Upon a Time in Iran”, also known as Khatun. Also written by Pakravan, the historical romance is offered by several online VOD platforms.

The female filmmakers Ida Panahandeh, Niki Karimi and Manijeh Hekmat were also honored with lifetime achievement awards.

“In my opinion, I don’t deserve this award, but I’m so grateful for that,” Panahandeh said after accepting the award from actor Hutan Shakiba.

Karimi, who is in London to attend the premiere of her movie “Atabai”, thanked the organizers for the honor via an online video link.

After receiving her award from writer Puria Alami, Hekmat said, “Let’s remember that we are committed to cinema, society and people, and I hope we are not contaminated with dirty money. We are not in good times; there are so many young directors and big names in Iranian cinema who have not been able to make a film over the past few years.”

The celebration went on by introducing critic Ahmad Talebinejad’s new book, “Thirty Years of the Directors Guild of Iran”.

“One of the defects in the guild was the lack of a printed document about the activities of the organization, something that was remedied by writing this book,” director Ahmad Amini said.

The organizers also saluted Payam Tabarsi, an infectious disease doctor, for his contribution to the cineastes’ community during the COVID-19 pandemic. /T.T/

Iran defeated England 3-1 on Monday to book a place at the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football (IFCPF) Men’s World Cup semifinals.

Mehdi Bakhshi and Ehsan Masoumzadeh (two goals) scored for Iran in the match while Sam Dewhirst scored England’s sole goal.

Iran started the campaign with a 2-2 draw against the U.S. and defeated 2-0 in Group C.

The Iranian team will meet powerhouse Brazil on Thursday.

The tournament will run through to May 16, with matches being held at the Futbol Salou Sports Complex in Salou, which is outside Barcelona.

The Women’s World Cup  started on May 7.

The spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) has said the country’s non-oil exports to Poland recorded 114 percent growth in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20).

According to Rouhollah Latifi, more than 22,664 tons of non-oil goods, valued at $53.198 million, were exchanged between Iran and Poland last year, showing a 79 and 28 percent growth in terms of weight and value respectively as compared to the preceding year.

As IRNA reported, the official made the remarks on Sunday when Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau arrived in Tehran to meet with Iranian officials.

Iran exported more than 18,134 tons of products, valued at $24,059,957 to Poland in the mentioned year, registering a 145 and 114 percent hike in terms of weight and value respectively, he said.

The IRICA spokesman further pointed to the imports from the European country, saying that some 4,530 tons of goods valued at $29,138,027 were also imported from Poland last year, recording 14 percent decline and four percent increase in terms of weight and value, respectively.

Chemicals, raisins, fruit juices, nuts, melamine, dates, fabrics, auto parts, mirrors and glass, food supplements, herbal extracts, fresh fruits and vegetables, flooring, iron bars, barberry, wire, etc. were among the main products exported from Iran to Poland in this period, Latifi added.

Tractors, mining machinery, beet seeds, engine rims, antioxidants, electronic boards, food additives, metal wire, drilling machinery, paper, combines, medical and laboratory equipment, packaging machinery, and auto parts were also the major items that the Islamic Republic imported from Poland, according to Latifi.

Poland, being located in the center of Europe, is a suitable point for Iranian traders to enter European markets.

More than five hundred years of historical relations between the two countries and good memories of Poles from Iran considering the country’s support for Poland’s independence, as well as sheltering of more than 120,000 Poles during World War II in Iran, have provided a good cultural and political context for the development of relations with this country./T.T/

The Iranian taekwondo practitioners won 4 more medals for their country on Sunday at the end of the sixth day of the 24th Summer Deaflympics underway in Caxias do Sul, Brazil on Sunday.

Alireza Sharifi Manesh and Fatemeh Zahra Zelikani won two gold medals, while Marzieh Khoshhaval and Behzad Amiri won bronze medals in the men and women’s taekwondo competitions for their country othe 24th Summer Deaflympics underway in Caxias do Sul, Brazil on Sunday.

With those 4 medals, Iranian athletes have so far clinched 22 medals at the competitions.

Overall, at the end of the sixth day of the competitions on Saturday, Iran has so far won 8 gold, 6 silver and 8 brozne medals in different sports categories including, karae, taekwondo poomsae, Judo.

Over 4,000 sports men and women are participating in the Brazil-hosted event which started on May 01, 2022, and will run through until Sunday, May 5, 2022. /MNA/

Some 527,000 foreign students are studying in Iran, the majority are Afghans and the rest are from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iraq, and other countries, the deputy minister of education for international affairs and schools abroad, has stated.

There are also 22 special schools for foreign nationals across the country, IRNA quoted Abolfazl Kamali as saying on Saturday.

Pointing out that 10,000 of the foreign students are studying in the special schools, he said that they study according to the Iranian education system.

By building special schools for foreign citizens, we intend to make education easier to achieve and not a single student to drop out of school, he further noted.

Iran spends about 20 trillion rials (nearly $77 million) every year on the education of foreign national students residing in the country. The Ministry of Education pays special attention to the construction of schools for Afghan nationals residing in Iran and has taken a rapid approach in this regard, he stated.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has placed special emphasis on “covering the education of foreign nationals” and this enabled these students to enjoy educational facilities and services just like Iranian students, he said.

Iran is home to over 800,000 registered refugees and some 2.6 million undocumented Afghans. Today, more than 500,000 Afghan children- including undocumented Afghans and those who have newly arrived in Iran following the Taliban-takeover-are benefitting from Iran’s inclusive education policies, one of the most progressive in the world.

Many of the refugees living in Iran are the second and third generation, according to the UNHCR.

Iran spends about 20 trillion rials (nearly $77 million) every year on the education of foreign national students residing in the country, head of the international affairs department of the Ministry of Education Gholamreza Karimi said in March 2020.

Foreign students attend Iranian universities

Some 57,675 foreign nationals from 133 countries are studying in Iranian universities, 30,600 of whom are studying in universities affiliated with the Ministry of Science, while 25,000 others are receiving education at Azad University and about 2,000 in medical universities.
Currently, foreign nationals constitute 1.64 percent of the country’s student population, which is about 0.14 percent higher than the goal set by the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021), Mohammad Javad Salmanpour, the deputy head of the Organization for Student Affairs, said in April.

Twenty-five percent of the foreign students studying in Iranian universities are Afghan nationals, he added.

Afghan students attend Iranian universities in three ways; some enter the university by participating in the national entrance exam of Iran, and some others receive admission from universities that have non-Iranian student licenses. The third group also attended the country’s universities through scholarships, he explained.

Many of the Afghan students are studying master’s and Ph.D. courses in Iranian universities, he added, IRNA reported. /T.T/

Over 100 teams from 9 countries participated in the 16th RoboCup IranOpen competitions (RoboCup 2022), which wrapped up on Friday.

The foreign teams that attended the competitions are from Turkey, Brazil, Malaysia, China, France, Germany, Afghanistan, Canada, and North America, Mohammad Norouzi, head of the ornithopter league, has said.

Emphasizing that these teams have participated in national competitions remotely and do not have a physical presence, explained that foreign teams competed in three of the simulation leagues online.

The 16th edition of RoboCup IranOpen brought together 135 teams, amounting to 800 participants, from across the country to compete in different fields of robotics and Artificial Intelligence with a focus on soccer robots.

The three-day event kicked off on Wednesday, in Dr. Habibi Library and Documentation Center.

RoboCup (Originally called Robot World Cup Initiative) is an international research and education initiative. It is an attempt to foster AI and intelligent robotics research by providing a standard problem where a wide range of technologies can be integrated and examined, as well as being used for integrated project-oriented education.

The event was first launched in 1997 and was inspired by the victory of a computer chess player against the then world chess champion, Gary Kasparov.

Currently, over 7,000 knowledge-based companies are active in the country, manufacturing diverse products to meet the needs of the domestic market while saving large amounts of foreign currency.

The fields of aircraft maintenance, steel, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, oil, and gas are among the sectors that researchers in technology companies have engaged in, leading to import reduction. /T.T/

Annual tea exports rise 77%
Economy
May 7, 2022 – 13:48

TEHRAN – Iran exported over 27,272 tons of tea leaves valued at $28 million in the previous Iranian calendar year 1400 (ended on March 20), registering a 77 percent rise in value and a 68 percent increase in weight, the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) said.

According to Ruhollah Latifi, Iranian tea was exported to 25 countries in the previous year, IRNA reported.

The United Arab Emirate (UAE) was the top importer of Iranian tea in the mentioned year, buying 8,304 tons of tea worth over $8.774 million.

Turkey with 2,904 tons worth $3.537 million of imports, Russia with 2,598 tons worth over $3.092 million, India with 2,538 tons worth $2.371 million, and Iraq with the purchase of 2,195 tons worth $1.998 million worth of tea, were the next four export destinations for the said commodity.

Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kenya, Kazakhstan, and Afghanistan occupied the sixth to 11th places among Iran’s top tea export destinations, followed by Germany, Ukraine, Lebanon, Georgia, United Kingdom, China, the Netherlands, Kuwait, Finland, Switzerland, Canada, Belgium, Azerbaijan, and Australia, according to Latifi.

Iran also imported some 75,379 tons of tea worth $386,160,767 from 10 countries in 1400, among which India was the top supplier of tea for Iran exporting 34,285 tons of the product valued at $168 million.

Sri Lanka was the second biggest exporter of tea to Iran, selling 18,326 tons of the product worth $107 million, followed by the UAE with 14,368 tons worth $71.572 million, Turkey with 4,593 tons worth $23.700 million, and Kenya with 1,471 tons worth $5.8 million.

Iraq, Vietnam, Germany, China, and Afghanistan also started selling tea to Iran in the previous year, the official said. / T.T/