A lineup of six movies went on screen at the 6th edition of the Iran Love and Peace Film Festival, which was held in Hiroshima from June 24 to 30.

“The Lost Strait” by Bahram Tavakkoli, “The 23” by Mehdi Jafari, “Leili Is with Me” by Kamal Tabrizi and “Don’t Be Embarrassed” by Reza Maqsudi were among the films, the organizers have announced.

“Istanbul Junction” by Mostafa Kiai and “Axing” by Behruz Shoeibi were also screened.

Moreover, Japanese anime “Junod” by Shinichiro Kimura was reviewed at the event.

An Iranian delegation composed of actors Parviz Parastui and Shabnam Moqaddami, directors Mehdi Jafari and Behruz Shoeibi and producer Habib Valinejad attended the festival to hold meetings and workshops.

The Iran Love and Peace Film Festival is dedicated to screening films about the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war and familiarizing the world with the injuries Iranian soldiers have suffered after the war and its consequences for the next generations.

Photo: Iranian and Japanese cineastes pose on the closing day of the 6th Iran Love and Peace Film Festival in Hiroshima, Japan on June 30, 2019.

President of Amir Kabir University of Technology Seyed Ahmad Motamedi underlined Iran’s capability to orbit high-quality satellites in an altitude 500km above the Earth.
“We are able to send satellites to the 500-km altitude and we can design satellites based on international standards,” Motamedi said, addressing a meeting in Tehran on Saturday.

Iran is one of the 9 superior states in building satellites beside the US, Russia, Europe and Canada. Head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) Morteza Barari had announced in mid-December that his country’s plans to manufacture a home-made telecommunication satellite in the next few years.

“Building an indigenized telecommunication satellite within the next 7 years is atop the ISA’s plans,” Barari said.

He added that the preliminary steps had already been taken by Iran to manufacture a telecommunication satellite by building Nahid 1 and Nahid 2 satellites.

Barari underlined that Iran also planned to build a sensing satellite with a 1-meter precision power in 7 years.

Barari had also announced in October that his country was standing among the 9 top world countries in developing satellites.

He also added that Iran ranked first in the region in the aerospace sector, explaining that Iran ranked 14th in the world in 2016 but it jumped three grades and ranked 11th in the world in 2017. / Fars news /

Iran’s exports to SCO members stood at $13.17 billion during the year ending March 20, 2019, indicating a 2.31% decrease, while imports were worth $14.75 billion, down 11.98% year-on-year

I ran traded 53.16 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $27.92 billion with member states of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, namely China, India, Pakistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, in the last fiscal year that ended on March 20 to register a 6.35% and 7.67% decline in tonnage and value respectively compared with the year before.

Latest data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show Iran’s exports totaled 44.89 million tons worth $13.17 billion during the year to March 20, 2019, indicating a 6.8% and 2.31% decrease in tonnage and value respectively year-on-year.

Imports stood at 8.27 million tons worth $14.75 billion, down 3.86% and 11.98% in tonnage and value respectively YOY. / Financial tribune /

‘The Silhouettes’, by Iranian filmmaker Afsaneh Salari, won the Docs in Progress award of the Eastern Promises industry section of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in Czech Republic.

According to Screen Daily, the €5,000 Docs In Progress award was presented to Afsaneh Salari’s ‘The Silhouettes’, a co-production between Iran and The Philippines, which was one of the eight documentaries in the section.

“The Silhouettes, which is a working title at the moment, is the story of an Afghan family living in Iran, who has left Afghanistan 40 years to come and live in Iran,” director Salari told Screen. “The film follows the son of the family who wants to repatriate to Afghanistan – to live and work there – but is confronted with the opposition of his family. It’s a film about belonging, identity, separation and connecting to your roots through the past in order to reconcile with the future.”

“We are in post-production now,” she continued. “To receive such positive feedback on the project gives us more confidence that we’re really on the right track now and there’s now more hope for what comes next in the future of the film.”

The film is expected to be ready at the end of the year, according to the report.

The documentary jury consisted of Pierre-Alexis Chevit, of the Doc Corner & Doc Day industry programme of the Cannes’ Marché, Lejla Dedić, a programme producer at Al Jazeera Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Denmark’s Patricia Drati, a creative producer and film development consultant. /MNA /

Iran’s non-oil exports has increased by 483 percent over the past 15 years, the acting head of the Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Mohammad Reza Modoudi said on Tuesday.

In a statement published on TPO website on the occasion of the 15th establishment anniversary of TPO, Modoudi noted that the country’s annual non-oil exports is currently $44.3 billion, up $36.7 billion from $7.6 billion 15 years ago when TPO was established.

According to the official, non-oil exports to the neighboring countries has witnessed an even greater increase, with the figure jumping from $3.2 billion to $24 billion.

In early June, Modoudi announced that the value of Iran’s non-oil exports reached $8.4 billion in the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-May 21), up 8.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the country’s imports during the two-month period stood at $6.7 billion, down by eight percent year on year.

The official also put the country’s exports of services at $1.6 billion, up by 17 percent from a year earlier.

According to the data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the country’s non-oil trade stood at $4.87 billion in the first Iranian calendar month of Farvardin (March 21-April 20).

Iran’s non-oil trade registered a $1.5-billion positive balance in the past Iranian calendar year (March 2018–March 2019). / Tehran times /

Iran and Tajikistan have recently explored avenues to enhance tourism ties after the two nations experienced decline in the number of arrivals.

A drop in the number of travelers from both countries led them to enter into negotiations, Iran’s deputy chief of tourism Vali Teymouri said on Saturday, CHTN reported.

A total of 4993 Tajik nationals visited Iran during the past Iranian calendar year 1396 (ended in March 2018), however, the number fell 9 percent in 1397, reaching 4085 people, the official announced.

The number of Iranians traveling to Tajikistan reached 6261 in 1396, which decreased by 14 percent in 1397, Teymouri added.

Referring to Tajikistan’s interest in boosting tourism, Teymouri said, “Talks have been held with Tajikistan’s deputy minister of tourism in order to develop cooperation with regard to the cultural commonalities between the two countries. And Tajikistan is keenly interested in exchanging travelers bilaterally.”

The number of international tourists visiting Iran surged 52.5 percent in 1397 from a year earlier, Teymouri said earlier in April.

Outbound passengers added up to 7 million during the past year, which is less than a year earlier, when some ten million Iranians traveled oversees, Teymouri said, citing financial strains among reasons behind.

Of Iran’s attractions are hundreds of museums, ancient bazaars, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, mansions as well as 22 UNESCO World Heritage sites. / Tehran Times /

An Iranian knowledge-based firm has produced a wound healing gel, the main ingredient of which is taken from crustaceans.

The Isfahan-based company, Mirmah, has developed the gel using nanotechnology and has reinforced it with substances taken from aquatic creatures.

The medical product, currently available in the domestic market, is able to repair open wounds, scars and pressure ulcer or bed sores, diabetic ulcer, herpes simplex, severe burns and infectious acnes much quicker than similar products.

Iran has been cutting reliance on medical imports by developing its own pharmaceutical industry.

According to officials, the country produces more than 96% of its medical needs.

The move toward self-sufficiency has been intensified, especially after the US pulled of the nuclear deal signed between Iran world powers and re-imposed unilateral sanctions on the country, scaring off many European companies from doing business with Iran. /MNA/

The Art Bureau of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization in Tehran will organize an exhibition of posters and cartoons on the U.S. drone that was shot down by Iran last week.

All the artworks have been created by Iranian artists for the exhibition entitled “Hard Slaps”, the organizers announced on Wednesday.

The exhibition will take place at the Iranian Photographers Center from June 30 to July 13.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) shot down an unmanned U.S. surveillance drone last Thursday after it breached Iran’s airspace./ Tehran times /