The 31st edition of Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF) has kicked off at Imam Khomeini Musalla without the presence of President Rouhani who is ritually in charge of inaugurating the event.

Tehran International Book Fair has turned into a landmark book fair in Middle East and Asia after holding 30 editions in a row. Every year in May, an average of 2,500 domestic and 600 foreign publishers participate in the event. The foreign publishers substantially offer their materials in English or Arabic however titles in French, German, Chinese, Korean or Japanese are also available.

In the TIBF event last year, nearly $38 million worth of books were sold.

The 31st TIBF was inaugurated today at Imam Khomeini Musalla in Tehran in the presence of Iranian Culture Minister Abbas Salehi and Serbian Minister of Culture and Information Vladan Vukosavljević.

Serbia is this year’s Guest of Honor and Tunis is the guest city; publishers from Germany, China, Italy, Oman, Hungary, Austria, Russia and Iraq will have their stands at the book fair.

Iran was the guest of honor at the 61st Belgrade International Book Fair in 2016. 100 Persian titles have so far been translated into the Serbian language. Serbia publishes 7 to 8 million titles each year.

Covering an area of 130,000 square meters, over 2,000 domestic publishers and 132 foreign publications will put as many as 515,000 book titles on display in this year’s edition of TIBF.

The 31st edition of the event will officially open to the public on Wednesday and last for two weeks, wrapping up on May 12. / Mehr news /

Varied collections of Iranian handicrafts are on display at the 82nd International Handicrafts Trade Fair, which is currently underway at the Fortezza da Basso, Florence.

32 skilled artisans — natives of different provinces — are promoting their works at the event, ILNA reported on Sunday.

Covering 120 square meters, Iran’s pavilion has been set up by the Touring and Automobile Club in collaboration with the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, the report said.

The pavilion holds workshops and local musical performances as well.

Over the past couple of years, dozens of Iranian handicrafts have gained the UNESCO Seal of Excellence.

Some 800 handicrafts-associated businesses as well as hundreds of craftspeople from about 50 countries are attending the event that runs through May 1. / Tehran times /

Mehdi Karbasian, Iranian Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, said on Wednesday in London that the volume of Iran’s steel export has increased 9 times in 2017 vis-à-vis the volume in 2013.
“Iran’s steel output was around 20 million tons out of which one million ton was exported in 2013, but last year the export amount rose to 9 million tons,” said Mehdi Karbasian, Iranian Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, on Wednesday in London.

He made the remarks while addressing the CRU World Aluminum Conference 2018 underway in British capital city. / Mehr news /

Iran has inaugurated the biggest tourism event of Muslim states in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz to mark the recognition of the city as the tourism capital of the Islamic World in 2018.

On Tuesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated the Tabriz tourism gala, where dozens of representatives from several Muslim countries, including ministers and diplomats, participated.

A key location on the Silk Road and a gateway to Europe and East Asia, the Azeri-speaking city was named as the 2018 tourism capital of Islamic countries by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) during its meeting in Niger’s capital city of Niamey.

In its candidacy for the title, Tabriz received 90 percent of the votes cast by the 57-member Muslim body to win the title.

The OIC first recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as the tourism capital of the Muslim world in 2015. The Turkish city of Konya and the Holy city of Medina were recognized as the next tourism capitals in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Once a center of culture and Islamic civilization and the seat of many diplomatic, political and international missions, Tabriz seeks to restore its historic glory as the new tourism capital.

Numerous cultural and artistic events as well as street festivals are underway across Tabriz in celebration of the occasion. The city has also offered special discounts on hotels, museums, historic sites and handicrafts for visitors.

Tabriz is fabled to have been the historical site of the Garden of Eden. It is one of the most ancient and largest cities in Iran, with a history of some 4,000 years.

According to the 13th century travelogue of Venetian merchant and adventurer Marco Polo, Tabriz attracted merchandise from India and Iraq, the Persian Gulf and many other places. At the time, it was the capital of the Persian Empire which stretched from Egypt to Central Asia and from the Indian Ocean to Armenia.

When Persia opened up to the West at the end of the 19th century, Tabriz became a European foothold as industry grew, making it Iran’s economic capital. The carpet, textile, footwear, cement and food processing industries that are still the key components of the city’s economy have roots in this period.

The city was also one of the first to embrace modernization and many of the new developments in Iran’s history used to happen in Tabriz, such as the print shop, public cinema, theater, municipality, kindergarten, school for the deaf and the dumb, modern school, newspaper and firefighting service.

Modern Tabriz has lost its position as Iran’s second city and economic hub, but it is still the largest metropolitan area in the northwest. The city is also a major heavy industry center for automobiles, machine tools, refineries, petrochemicals, pharmaceutical products, leather goods and carpets.

This pivot to industry has had its downsides, where tourism has been neglected overall. Tabriz gets very little of the limelight in Iran’s promotion of its splendid ancient heritage in places such as Isfahan, Shiraz, Yazd and Mashhad.

The development tempo in Tabriz is underlined by the new high-rises which dot its skyline to the accompaniment of new highways, parks and bridges being built and old buildings given a face-lift.

Since then, the city has paved many of its old alleys and streets anew and repaired its historical sites to be named Iran’s cleanest city for several years in a row.

Tabriz also carries a number of unofficial attributes such as the city of firsts because of its perceived pioneering role in Iran’s modernization, the city without beggars and homeless and the chocolate capital of Iran.

Local confectionery, dried nuts and traditional Tabrizi cuisine are recognized throughout Iran as some of the best.

Shirin Asal, Aysuda, Aydin, Shoniz, Anata, Baraka and Chichak are some of the household names in Iran and the country’s best gourmet chocolate brands. Their specialties include qurabiya, Tabrizi lovuez, riss, nougat, tasbihi, latifeh, Ahari, lovadieh, and lokum.

The city is further famous for its handicrafts, including hand-woven rugs and jewelry. Tabriz rugs are distinguished by their excellent weave and adherence to the classical traditions of antique Persian rug design.

While many of the city’s ancient monuments have been lost through repeated earthquakes, the remaining historical buildings are impressive in their kind.

Foremost is the world’s largest covered bazaar in the world, a fifteenth-century complex of interconnected brick structures and enclosed spaces for different functions, which is one of Iran’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Others include a huge fourteenth-century brick edifice that is the only remnant of a once mighty citadel, as well as the famous Blue Mosque, named for the vivid blue tiles that decorate its walls.

Tabriz has also a number of hillside gardens and parks popular for weekend getaways. Its museums exhibit finds dating as far back as 4,000 years ago. There is also a graveyard belonging to some 400 classical and contemporary poets, mystics and other notable people.

Churches in the city attest to its place as a boiling cauldron of races, religions and nationalities. The city currently has a visible Armenian minority who follow Christianity. It also had a small Jewish community, but most of them have moved to Tehran.

Near Tabriz, the village of Kandovan attracts many visitors who travel to see manmade cliff dwellings excavated inside volcanic rocks, which are still inhabited.

The Arasbaran or Qaradaq gorge of majestic forests is a UNESCO Biosphere reserve which Iran has applied for promotion to the National Park status. It is home to about 350 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and fish as well as many exotic plants and wild trees.

/ Press tv /

The international ceremony to mark choosing Tabriz as the Islamic World tourism capital called ‘Tabriz 2018’ started with the attendance of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday.

Tourism ministers and ambassadors of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, Armenia, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Switzerland, Norway, Turkmenistan, Bulgaria, Tajikistan and Belarus have been invited to the event, Head of Foreign Ministry Office in East Azarbaijan, Esmaeel Ragheb earlier told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Wednesday.

Mayors of Istanbul, Kazan and Baku who have sisterhood agreements with Tabriz also participated in the event, he said. Some cabinet ministers also attended Tabriz 2018.

Tabriz, the third largest city in Iran, has a special place in the history and economy of the country. The city has been chosen by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as tourism capital of the Islamic World in 2018. / irna/

The government’s focus on the development of ecotourism, especially in rural areas, is a reliable means of creating a stable source of income for locals and preventing heterogeneous construction.

Based on the directives of the budget law regarding the creation of sustainable employment and support for development in rural and nomadic areas, low-interest loans (up to 6%) are being offered by the National Development Fund of Iran to those eager to establish ecolodges throughout the country, IRNA reported.

Ecotourism is defined by the International Ecotourism Society as responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people.

It is intended as a low-impact and often small-scale alternative to standard commercial mass tourism and its purpose is to preserve natural areas and environment and improve the well-being of the local people. / Financial tribune /

During the year ending in March 2017, the value of imported handsets into the country was $119 million, which reached $3.23 billion in the next year; the increase translates into a 172% jump in government revenue—from $21.4 million to $58.3 million After the implementation of the Registry Scheme, smuggled phones were cut off from the country’s network. Statistics show that so far, a total of 210,773 phones have been disconnected.

As part of the President Hassan Rouhani administration’s push to curb mobile phone’s smuggling, the Registry Scheme went into full swing as of April 21. Following the move, government revenue from customs duty and imports tax levied on cellphones hiked 2.7 times.

During the year ending in March 2017, the value of imported handsets into the country was 5 trillion rials ($119 million), which reached 136 trillion rials ($3.23 billion) in the next year; the increase translates into a 172% jump in government revenue—from 900 billion rials ($21.4 million) to 2.45 trillion rials ($58.3 million).

The numbers were reported by Hamidreza Dehqaninia, the ICT head at the Headquarters to Combat Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Exchange, in an interview with Students News Network.

Aimed at reining in cellphone smuggling, the ICT Ministry, Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, Communications Regulatory Authority and the Industries Ministry introduced the Cellphone Registry Scheme that bars local operators from offering services to contraband phones. / Financial tribune /

Iran national sitting volleyball team overpowered Russia in straight sets (25-21, 25-23, 28-26) in the World Super 6 on Tuesday.

Team Melli lifted the trophy at the Sadra Sport Complex in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz with six victories.

Iranian Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Masoud Soltanifar attended the match.

Iran started the event with a 3-0 win over Russia and beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-2 in their second match. Iran also defeated Ukraine, Germany and the U.S. in straight sets.

Six of the world’s best male sitting volleyball national teams participate at the Super 6 from April 19 to 24.

It was the second edition of the international competition, which only included women’s teams last year and saw Russia taking gold in Hangzhou, China.

The event featured reigning world champions Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paralympic gold medalists Iran, world No.6 Germany, No.9 Russia, No.5 Ukraine and the U.S.

/ Tehran times /

Two Iranian Films ‘Searing Summer’ by Ebrahim Irajzad and ‘Untaken Paths’ by Tahmineh Milani have been nominated for the Best Film Award (Tiantan Award) at the 8th Beijing International Film Festival.

Iranian movies nominated for Beijing Fest. best film award

The two Iranian films were nominated along with two Chinese films for the best film award of the festival which began on April 15 and will continue until April 22 in the Chinese capital Beijing.

‘Searing Summer’ narrates the story of a married woman called Nasrin who wants to get a divorce but knows she will not be able to get custody of her six-year-old daughter in the case. Without her husband’s knowledge, she moves to another part of town with her daughter.

When her husband catches up with her, their lives take an unexpected turn.

Milani’s film is about a young girl, Mali, who meets Sia and starts secret relations with him. Soon Mali’s family finds out about their relationship. According to the cultural rules, the only way she can continue her relationship with Sia, is for them to get married.

Despite the disapproval of Mali’s family, things take a quick turn. Sia, incapable of managing his new life, starts practicing his father’s methods of turning to physical violence. Now Mali, who has lost her self-confidence and personality as well as her family’s support, becomes more and more depressed as each day passes.

In the 7th edition of the festival, Iranian actress Golab Adineh won Best Actress award for her inspiring role in the Iranian film ‘Abji’. / Irna /