The Iranian ICT minister said that three new satellites are under construction to be sent to space. Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said on Tue. that Iran has been able to record its name among 11 countries in the construction and deployment of satellite in the space regardless of failure or success of sending satellite to the space.

Iran cooperates with International Space Agency and regional countries, and continues its cooperation with them, he added.

Jahromi mentioned that Iran also has spatial cooperation with some countries in the region, especially in the area of ​​measurement including Azerbaijan.

Iran launched its first satellite, called the Omid (Hope), in February 2009. The Rasad (Observation) satellite was also sent into orbit in June 2011.

In February 2012, Iran successfully put its third domestically manufactured satellite, named the Navid (Promise), into orbit. On February 8, 2012, Iran received the first image sent by the Navid satellite. / MNA /

Iranian director Ashkan Rahgozar’s acclaimed movie “The Last Fiction” was picked as best animation at the 3rd Southern Cone International Film Festival-FICCSUR, which was held in Valparaiso, Chile from May 23 to 26.

The film is based on a story from the Shahnameh, the epic masterpiece of the Persian poet Ferdowsi. It is about Zahak’s treacherous rise to the throne of Jamshid in Persia. The young and naive hero Afaridoun wants to save the kingdom and its people from darkness. But he must first conquer his own demons in this portrayal of Persian mythology that reveals human nature.

Vocalist Shahram Nazeri has sung the closing credits song in “The Last Fiction” and members of an all-star cast, including Parviz Parastui, Leila Hatami, Hamed Behdad, Baran Kowsari, Askhan Khatibi, Akbar Zanjanpur and Farrokh Nemati, have lent their voices to the characters in the project.

“As the Earth Turns” by Richard H. Lyford from the U.S. won the award for best film, while “Days of Madness” by Damian Nenadic from Croatia was selected as best documentary.

The award for best short film went to “Sac de Merde” by Greg Chwerchak from the U.S., and “The Eve” by Luca Machnich from Italy was honored with the FICCSUR grand prize for best short./ Tehran times /

The 26th International Exhibition of Food, Food Technology and Agriculture of Iran (Agrofood 2019), due to be held on June 18-21 at the Tehran Permanent International Fairgrounds, will be hosting 160 foreign companies, IRIB reported.

Some 760 domestic exhibitors are also going to participate in this year’s edition of the exhibition.

Foreign exhibitors come from 20 countries including Spain, Slovakia, Austria, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Bulgaria, Turkey, China, Denmark, Russia, Switzerland, Georgia, the Netherlands, India, and Greece.

The exposition is the largest and the most famous international food fair in the Middle East. So, since its first edition in 1994, many participating countries including Italy, Germany, Brazil, Turkey, China, Russia, and India are holding pavilions at the exhibition.

The exhibition is going to be held in three separate sections namely, Iran Food which covers food products and related industries, Iran Tech which pertains to machinery and technological areas of the food industry and finally Iran Agro which deals with areas related to agricultural industry.

According to the organizers, introducing Iran’s capabilities and advancements in the food industry, promoting foreign trade, presenting the latest scientific and industrial achievements in the fields of agriculture and food industry, exchanging knowledge and information between the participants, and creating a platform for direct communication between producers and consumers are some of the most important goals of the event. /Tehran times/

Iran Cultural Centre, Dhaka has announced that, this year Government of Islamic Republic of Iran will give Scholarship for higher education at Masters Level two students in Persian Language and Literature. The scholarship declared as ‘A’ category, would cover all expenses of the recipients. The selection would be under a certain process. The interested students are told to contact the Persian Language and Literature Department of Dhaka, Rajshahi and Chittagong University for further information.

Monitoring the status of the indicators of science, technology and innovation of Iran showed that Iran is one of the 5 top countries in the world in entrepreneurship growth.

Iran’s scientific development ranked 5th and Iran’s science production ranked 15th in the world in 2018 based on a report of monitoring the status of the indicators of science, technology and innovation and also the statistics published in “Science & Engineering Indicators 2018”.

Regarding this report, Iran is one of the 5 top countries in the world in terms of entrepreneurship growth. / MNA/

Iran University of Science and Technology president has said the university has planned to deliver Zafar satellite to Iranian Space Agency on September.

Iran University of Science and Technology president Jabbar Ali Zakeri said that the Zafar satellite manufactured by the University of Science and Technology will be sent into orbit by this summer.

The development of the satellite has been completed and the final stages of testing and controls are underway, he added.

He mentioned that researchers at the satellite research center in Iran University of Science and Technology are working on satellite projects, adding: “The ‘Zafar’ is designed by experts at research center of university and it weighs 90 kilograms and is equipped with color cameras and can survey the oil reserves, mines, jungles, and natural disasters.”

Iran launched its first satellite, called the Omid (Hope), in February 2009. The Rasad (Observation) satellite was also sent into orbit in June 2011.

In February 2012, Iran successfully put its third domestically manufactured satellite, named the Navid (Promise), into orbit. On February 8, 2012, Iran received the first image sent by the Navid satellite. / MNA /

The University of Birjand in South Kkhorasan province is hosting the first international conference on tourism in Lut Desert, which is a UNESCO-inscribed and the world’s 27th-largest desert in eastern Iran.

The 1st International Conference on Lut Desert Tourism (Local and International Opportunities) was opened at the University of Birjand in South Kkhorasan province on Wednesday.

The event consists of two programs; the scientific part of it is currently underway at the University of Birjand, and the second program includes a visit to the Lut Desert, widely referred to as Dasht-e Lut, on Thursday.

According to the executive secretary of the Conference, as many as 135 papers from UK, Australia, India, Turkey, Italy and across Iran had been submitted to the secretariat of the event.

The Conference topics include: sustainable tourism and development of communities; tourism and local economy; attractions in Iran’s Lut Desert; sports tourism; geo-tourism; ECO tourism; transportation and community development, among other topics.

The event aims, among others, to promote tourism in South Khorasan province and increase the effectiveness of scientific education and the modern tourism technologies.

A specialized economic and business diplomacy meeting is also scheduled to be held at Birjand’s Chamber of Commerce with a number of Foreign Ministry and Iran Chamber of Commerce officials in attendance.

The Lut Deseret is a large salt desert located in the provinces of Kerman and Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran. It is the world’s 27th-largest desert, and was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on July 17, 2016. / MNA/

The Nations’ Food festival will be held on 11-16 August 2019 at Milad Tower Exhibition Center with the participation of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) members.

The director of the festival Jalal Zokaie said that the Nations’ Food festival will be held in order to bring nations and countries closer together.

“Some countries have been invited to present their food, besides other NGOs and domestic and foreign food producers can also take part in the event,” he added.

The food festival will be sponsored by Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran, Touring & Automobile Club of Iran, Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and ECO Cultural Institute (ECI). The aims of this festival are to introduce indigenous Iranian and foreign foods, talent identification and selecting the best culinary talents and introducing top international chefs. / MNA /