Young Iranian volleyball players managed to stage a straight-set win against South Korean rivals to secure a spot in final showdown of 2017 FIVB Volleyball Boy’s U19 World Championship in Bahrain.

Held in Isa City Sports Hall of Bahrain on Sunday, the semifinal debut saw Iranians offering eye-catching athletic performances and pulling out a 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-18) win over South Korean rivals.

The stunning victory over South Korea marked the seventh win in a row for undefeated Persians.

Volleyball outfit of Iran had previously thrashed Italy (3-2), Mexico (3-0), China (3-0) and the Czech Republic (3-0) in the preliminary round. Iranians also quelled Turkish and Brazilian rivals in straight sets in the playoff stage of the tournament.

In the encounter against South Korean, Mohammad Vakili, Iran’s coach, had invoked Mahdi Jelveh, Amirhossein Toukhteh, Amirmohammad Falahatkhah, Morteza Sharifi, Amirhossein Esfandiar, Pouria Yali as well as Mohammadreza Hazratpour.

Meanwhile, Russia breezed past Japan in the other semifinal encounter to set up a date with Iran in the finals to be staged today.

The tournament is being hosted by Bahrain in the cities of Riffa and Isa Town from 18 to 27 August 2017. A total of 20 teams are competing in the tournament. / Meher news /

W ith an annual production of close to 3.2 million tons of grapes, Iran ranks the world’s eighth biggest producer of the fruit, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Mohammad Ali Tahmasebi said.

“Italy, France and the US are the biggest cultivators of grapes in the world,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.

The official noted that there are 294,000 hectares of vineyards in the country, 92% of which bear fruit and that 70% of the land under grape cultivation are irrigated and the rest is rain-fed.

The provinces of Kurdistan, Qazvin, North Khorasan as well as East and West Azerbaijan are the main producers of grapes in Iran. / Financial tribune /

The University of California, Irvine (UCI) is organizing the Celebration of Iranian Cinema, which opened today.

A lineup of five movies, including “Daughter” by Reza Mirkarimi, “Life+1 Day” by Saeid Rustai and “Breath” by Narges Abyar, has been selected to be screened at the three-day celebration.

The acclaimed documentary films “Starless Dreams” by Mehrdad Oskui and “Hey, Humans” by Rakhshan Bani-Etamed will also be reviewed.

The event is organized by the Farhang Foundation, an institute in Southern California that promotes Iranian art, culture and history. / Tehran times /

Over 48 countries would attend in the visual art section of the 6th International Green Film Festival (IIGFF6) slated for September 2017.

According to the Public Relations Office of IIGFF6, so far a large number of artworks from home and abroad have been sent to the visual art section of Iran’s largest environmental cinematic event, of which 1,248 belong to Iranians.

Meanwhile, a large number of received foreign artworks belong to China, USA, Mexico, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Ecuador, Poland, South Korea and Russia.

After evaluating the artworks, the jury would classify them in different fields of the competition including photography, posters, illustrations, cartoons, conceptual arts as well as the video arts.

The 6th Iran International Green Film Festival (IIGFF6) is slated for September 9-15, 2017, with the objectives of recognizing, screening and awarding the best national and international films and visual arts aimed at protecting the environment, natural resources, increasing public awareness and promoting the culture of environmental preservation.

The international competition of IIGFF6 is consists of long fiction films (more than 50 minutes), short fiction films (less than 30 minutes), long documentary films (more than 30 minutes), short documentary films (less than 30 minutes), animations and experimental films. / Meher news /

Iran’s Hassan Yazdani Charati claimed a gold medal on the opening day of freestyle events at the Paris 2017 Wrestling World Championships.

Yazdani, who won a gold medal in the Rio 2016 gold medalist at 74kg, defeated Boris Makoev from Slovakia 10-0 in the 86kg final match.

“I am not satisfied with my performance in the first two matches because I was sick. Afterward, I did a better performance and I am happy I made the Iranian people happy,” Yazdani said.

“I dedicate my gold to Iranian people who prayed for me. Our nation deserve the best,” he added.

Vladislav Valiev from Russia and J’den Cox from the U.S. claimed the bronze medal.

/ Tehran times /

Trade exchange between Iran and Europe increased 94 percent in the first half of 2017 from the same time in 2016, based on the latest figures released by the European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat.

Iran-Europe trade stood at €9.9 billion in the first six months of this year, while the figure was €5.1 billion in the time span from January to June 2016, the same report confirmed.

The upward trend of Europe’s imports of Iranian crude oil, following the implementation of Iran’s nuclear deal with G5+1, has played an important role in pushing the figure up, the report added.

Europeans imported €5 billion of goods from Iran in the first half of 2017, showing 224 percent growth from €1.54 billion in the same period in 2016.

Their exports to the Islamic country in the first six months of 2017, registering 37 percent rise, hit €4.9 billion, while the figure stood at €3.56 billion in the same time in the preceding year. / Tehran times /

Iran’s women’s cycling championship was held in memory of Zeinab Sasanian, who was killed in a car crash in late July. The Iranian national team cyclist, 19, was killed when her car collided with a tree. The three-day championship took place in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. / Tehran times /

T he Qatari government has facilitated business trips for Iranians by issuing six-month visas for merchants and businesspeople from the Islamic Republic, Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture’s news portal reported on Saturday.

Iranian businesspeople will be granted one-month multiple visas that can be extended for five months. Among the requirements for being granted the visa are possession of a valid passport, an invitation from a reputable Qatari company, 5,000 Qatari rials or more or the equivalent in foreign exchange as well as a hotel reservation and a round-trip ticket.

/  Financial tribune /