The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited nine Iranians to join the organization. The list includes Iranian actresses Leila Hatami, Golshifteh Farahani and Nazanin Bonyadi.

Director of ‘Manuscripts Don’t Burn’ and ‘Goodbye’ Mohammad Rasoulof, an Iranian director, is also among the invitees for joining the organization as a member.

Hayedeh Safiyari and Mohammadreza Delpak are invited for the sections of Film Editor and Sound respectively for their films ‘The Salesman’ and ‘A Separation’.

Prominent author Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and Bahamn Qobadi are on the list as the academy’s writers.

Mohsen Mousavi who is well-known for the visual effects in ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ and ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ is also seen among the list.

The Board of Governors is charged with setting the Academy’s strategy and rules for future event ceremonies, as well as looking after the organization’s financial well-being, and staying on track with the Oscars and its other film missions.

Famous American cineastes such as Whoopi Goldberg and Kimberly Peirce now make up 38 percent of the 2017–18 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors.

Other female members of the Board of Governors include Mandy Walker, Isis Mussenden, and Christina Kounelias, among others.

Newly elected male members of the Board of Governors include Billy Crystal, David Linde and Larry Karaszewski, among others.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued 774 invitations to new members.

That number is more than the record 683 invitations that were issued in 2016 and well above the 322 invites that went out in 2015 as the Academy has made a concerted effort to diversify its membership ranks by bringing in more women, people of color and filmmakers from around the world.

The Academy reported that the list, which represents talent from 57 countries, is 39 percent female and 30 percent people of color. Seven of the Academy branches — actors, casting directors, costume designers, documentary, executives and film editors — invited more women than men. / Iran daily /

Iran aims to draw some 6.5 million foreign travelers by the end of the current calendar year 1396 (March 20, 2018), though the country’s tourism infrastructure and public services are in need to be improved, a senior tourism official said on Monday.

In 1395, some 5.5 million travelers visited Iran, fetching about $8 billion for the country, IRNA reported.

“With proper planning and development of infrastructure, it is possible to meet our goals,” said Morteza Rahmani Movahhed, the deputy for tourism at the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization.

“However, it takes time to clean up international image of the county that for years have been tarnished by some Western outlets, the official added.

Following a landmark nuclear deal Tehran and world powers clinched in 2015, Iran is repeatedly named as a hot travel destination by a circle of international media outlets in terms of its rich history, picturesque sceneries, traditions, cuisine and hospitable people.

Iran’s brilliant goal is to lure 20 million foreign travelers annually by 2025. However, with only eight years to go, according to some experts, the target seems to be somewhat unachievable.

At the moment Europeans travelers from countries including France, Italy and Germany, who account for the majority of Western tourists, can now get visas on arrival in Tehran, and at the main sites they mingle with sightseers from China, Japan and elsewhere.

The government has also announced plans to create sufficient accommodation and transportation for the growing number of tourists. There is a plan to increase the number of higher-end hotels from 130 to more than 1,000 in 10 years. / Tehran times /

Iranian animated piece ‘Release from Heaven’ by Ali Noori Oskouei has been nominated for Best Animation Award at SICAF film festival in South Korea.

The 76-minute film is directed Ali Noori Oskouei, written by Majid Asoodegan, and produced by Ali Noori Oskouei and Seyed Vahid Olyaee.

Set in a war-torn country, ‘Release from Heaven’ is the story of a female writer and teacher who has to accompany two of her students on a life changing journey.

The Iranian animation will compete with three other nominees for the Best Animation Award at the Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF).

Established in 1995, SICAF is an international event that specializes in animation representing Asia.  According to its official website, the SICAF program introduces a variety of works expanding the territory of animation from the classical masterpieces to the latest hits, focusing on the changing environment and paradigms.

The 2017 edition of the festival will take place on 26-30 July in Seoul, South Korea.

‘Release from Heaven’ is also slated to compete in animation festivals of Berlin, Golden Bridge, Hong Kong and several other international festivals.

The animation had its market premier on May 22 as the opening film of Animation Day in Cannes film festival. / Meher news /

Iran signed a deal with France’s Total and China’s state-owned National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for development of phase 11 of its South Pars gas field, Shana reported on Monday.

The $4.879-billion deal was signed by National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), as the contractor of project, and a consortium of companies comprising Total, CNPC and Iran’s Petropars.

Based on the deal, Total has a 50.1 percent interest in the project, alongside CNPC which holds a 30 percent share and Petropars holding 19.9 percent of interest.

As Total wrote on its website, the project will have a production capacity of 2 billion cubic feet (about 56 million cubic meters) per day of gas or 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day including condensate. The produced gas will supply the Iranian domestic market starting in 2021.

Phase 11 will be developed in two phases. The first phase, with an estimated cost of around $2 billion, will consist of 30 wells and 2 wellhead platforms connected to existing onshore treatment facilities by two subsea pipelines. At a later stage, once required by reservoir conditions, a second phase will be launched involving the construction of offshore compression facilities, a first on the South Pars field,

In the signing ceremony of the deal, NIOC Managing Director Ali Kardor noted that based on $50 oil, phase 11 output will bring the country $84 billion in revenues, IRNA reported.

By the end of the contract’s 20-year period, 335 billion cubic meters (bcm) of sour gas, 290 million barrels of gas condensate and 315 bcm of sweet gas will be extracted from the field, the official announced. / Tehran times /

Iran’s sixth five-year development plan (2017-22) stipulates that the total length of Iran’s freeways should reach 7,500 kilometers by 2022

There are 900 kilometers of freeways under construction in Iran, the deputy head of Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company, affiliated to the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, said.

Seyyed Hossein Mirshafi also referred to Tabriz-Marand-Bazargan and Isfahan-Shiraz freeways as two major projects currently under construction, the ministry’s news portal reported.

Details of the two projects as well as another ambitious Iranian freeway under construction, namely Tehran-North Freeway, are outlined below based on Mirshafi’s remarks and other sources gathered by Financial Tribune.

Tabriz-Marand-Bazargan Freeway

The project, launched early April, includes four sections, spanning 253 kilometers from Tabriz, the capital of the northwestern East Azarbaijan Province, to the city of Bazargan on Iran-Turkey border.

Bazargan accounts for a considerable share of road transportation between Iran and Turkey.

The 63-kilometer-long Section 1, starting from Tabriz, needs 9.4 trillion rials ($250 million) in investment.

Mirshafi said the section is being constructed by domestic private companies and will be completed in the next Iranian year (March 2018-19).

Isfahan-Shiraz Freeway

The 225-kilometer freeway project, comprised of six sections, will connect the central provincial capital of Isfahan to the southern city of Shiraz in Fars Province, according to its contractor, Isfahan-Shiraz Freeway Company.

The project needs 16 trillion rials ($426 million) in investment.

According to Mirshafi, the freeway will cut short the current route between the two cities by 100 kilometers.

The first section, with a length of 54 kilometers, will be completed by September 2018, the official said.

The freeway is designed to connect with another freeway project in Isfahan Province that stretches 93 kilometers.

According to Mirshafi, 63 kilometers of the project are under construction and the government is in talks to finalize a contract for the remaining 30 kilometers.

Tehran-North Freeway

The freeway connecting the capital Tehran to Chalous in Mazandaran Province is an ambitious project prioritized by the government in recent years.

The mega project worth $2.2 billion consists of four sections spanning 121 km.

The 32-km Phase 1, which is almost 85% complete, will shorten the existing route from Tehran to the Caspian city by 60 kilometers.

This part includes a 6,400-meter tunnel, the excavation work of which has been completed recently. Section 1 is scheduled to be completed before the calendar year is out in March 2018.

Sections 2 and 3 pass through rugged mountainous terrain and will take longer to complete. The 20-km Section 4 was inaugurated in March 2014.

Mostazafan Foundation, the largest charity and the second-largest socioeconomic conglomerate, is undertaking the project.

The construction of Section 2 of the project was officially launched on June 17 in the presence of First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri, Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi and the head of Mostazafan Foundation, Mohammad Saeedikia.

According to Jahangiri, the 22-kilometer stretch is being constructed by four Iranian contractors.

Tehran-North Freeway is 20 years in the making.

Plan for Further 500 Kilometers

According to Mirshafi, talks are in final stages to sign contracts to start the construction of 500 km of freeways across the country.

“We have also signed 40 memorandums of understanding to build new freeways,” he said, adding that the Cabinet has yet to approve these preliminary deals before they can end up becoming firm contracts.

Among the new projects in the making, he referred to a freeway from Mashhad to Qouchan, which is being negotiated with Iran’s Astan Quds Razavi—a charitable conglomerate based in Mashhad and engaged in a wide range of economic activities—as well as a 1,000-km freeway from the city of Qom to Mashhad, which is to be carried out by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Khatam Al-Anbia Construction Headquarters.

The Parsian-Lamerd project, freeways in Sirjan and Arak counties and part of a freeway from Bandar Abbas to Tehran are also among projects yet to be finalized.

Back in July 2016, the Iranian government signed a €3.6 billion deal with Italy’s highway agency ANAS for the construction and management of a 1,200-km road project linking the Persian Gulf port of Bandar Imam Khomeini to Bazargan on Iran’s border with Turkey.

Iran’s sixth five-year development plan (2017-22) stipulates that the total length of Iran’s freeways should reach 7,500 kilometers by 2022. Currently, there are 2,500 kilometers of freeways across the country. / Financial tribune /

Iran men’s national taekwondo team finished third and the women squad finished 11th at the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships in South Korea.

On Friday, Iran men’s national taekwondo team stood on the third podium with three silver medals and one bronze which amounted to 46 points.

South Korea with three gold and one bronze (67 points) finished first in the tournament while the Russian outfit stood on the second podium with one gold, three silver and one bronze (63 points).

Meanwhile, the Iranian women finished 11th thanks to the silver medal garnered by the 19-year-old taekwondo practitioner and bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Kimia Alizadeh Zenoozi, who won the medal in the women’s minus 62-kilogram class.

Alizadeh’s silver medal is the first medal won by Iranian women taekwondo practitioners in the world championships. Her bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games was also the first medal won by female Iranian taekwondo fighters at the Olympics.

The 23rd edition of the world taekwondo championships opened in Muju, South Korea, on June 24 and ran through June 30. A total of 973 athletes from 183 countries took part in the international tournament. / Meher News /

Kimia Alizadeh, the first Iranian woman to win an Olympic medal, has been selected as flag-bearer for the opening ceremony of the 23rd edition of the World Taekwondo Championships in South Korea.

Kimia Alizadeh, the 18-year-old taekwondoka, who made headlines at 2016 Rio Games by becoming the first Iranian woman to win an Olympic medal, has been selected by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) to be the flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the 23rd edition of the World Taekwondo Championships to be held in is held in Muju, South Korea from June 24 to June 30, 2017.

The new logo of the WTF will also be unveiled at the opening and Alizadeh will be wearing the WTF’s special outfit with the new logo.

The Iranian male taekwondo squad consists of Armin Hadipour, Farzan Ashourzadeh, Mirhashem Hosseini, Abolfazl Yaghoubi, Masoud Hojjizavvareh, Pourya Erfanian, Saeid Rajabi, and Sajjad Mardani.

The female squad consists of Nahid Kiani, Tayebeh Parsa, Kimia Alizadeh, Melika Pourhosseini, Zahra Pouresmaeil, and Akram Khodabandeh.

The Iranian taekwondokas will depart for South Korea Sunday night.

Accoridng to WTF, 917 athletes from 183 nations have signed up for the June 24-30 WTF World Taekwondo Championships in Muju. This will be the seventh WTF worlds in South Korea and first since 2011. /  Meher news /

Late on Sunday Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps fired six missiles into eastern Syria, targeting Islamic State strongholds in retaliation for the recent ISIS-claimed terrorist attacks in Tehran.

The national TV showed footages of missile attacks being launched from western Iran.

“In the operation, code-named Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny), the Guards launched six medium-range ballistic missiles at various targets in ranges between 650km to 700km,” Tasnim news agency quoted IRGC spokesman Ramazan Sahrif as saying on Monday.

Targeting “headquarters and gathering centers of Takfiri terrorists” in the Deir al Zour region of eastern Syria, the missiles used the Iraqi airspace.

The IRGC spokesman says the missile operation “is just a very small part of the capability of Iran’s punitive force against the terrorists and its enemies.” “The missiles were launched in coordination with Syria beforehand,” the IRGC official said.

The IRGC launched the missiles from western provinces of Kermanshah and Kurdistan, home to Sunni Kurdish populations.

“The missile firings from the two Sunni-majority provinces at headquarters of Daesh terrorists carries the massage of unity of all Iranians in the face of terrorists,” Sharif added.

The missiles successfully hit the targets, Sahrif said.

The missile operation “is just a very small part of the capability of Iran’s punitive force against the terrorists and its enemies,” Sharif further noted.

Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC aerospace unit, hailed the missile raids, saying any more evil act against Iran will result in “costly consequences”.

“Our enemies should know that Tehran is not London or Paris,” Hajizadeh stated, a reference to the European capitals coming under numerous terrorist attacks over the past years.

Iran vowed quick revenge after ISIS suicide bombers and gunmen stormed the parliament and the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini on June 7, killing 18 and injuring at least 56.

In a statement after the attacks, the IRGC issued a statement vowing avenge. “The spilling of any pure blood will not go unanswered,” read part of the statement.

Also, Major General Mohammad Baqeri, head of the Iranian armed forces, pledged “unforgettable lessons” to terrorists and their backers after the Tehran assault.

Former IRGC chief Mohsen Rezaei tweeted, “This was just the beginning of the revenge. Harder slap is underway”.

Rezaei also called the missile attacks “the message of Iran’s authority” to “supporters of terrorism.”

Iran had earlier implicitly suggested that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, its chief regional foe, had insinuated the terrorist attacks in Tehran.

The operation comes just days after the U.S. Senate passed the Countering Iran’s Destabilizing Activities Act by an overwhelming margin, a new sanctions legislation which targets Iran’s ballistic missile program and applies sanctions against the IRGC.

The attack also sends a clear warning signal to Saudi Arabia which has been for some time trying to test Iran’s patience.

“Saudi Arabia and other countries supporting terrorism should know that the Islamic Republic has no joking with anybody,” senior MP Alaedin Boroujerdi said on Monday.

“We have entered a new phase of fighting terrorists in the region,” added Boroujerdi, chairman of the parliamentary national security and foreign policy committee.

/ Tehran times /

Short animated piece ‘Servant’ directed by Farnoosh Abedi won Best Short Animation award at the 2017 Silver Scream Festival in California, US.

According to the director, Farnoosh Abedi, ‘The Servant’ narrates the familiar story of a master and his servant, the story of a writer’s encounter with a gigantic insect: a cockroach. The cockroach becomes a servant but gradually begins to realize that it deserves better conditions, so it tries to turn the table and change the game in its own favor. The man, however, attempts to preserve the current situation but soon realizes that the game has no rules.

Silver Scream Fest is dedicated to showcasing graphic novels as well as films and animation that center around monsters and sci-fi genre. The second edition of the festival was held on 26-28 May 2017 at the Sheraton in Dallas, Texas, United States.

‘Servant’ has previously won a number of international awards including best short animation award for February at London Independent Film Festival. / Meher news /

About 10,000 tons of dates worth close to $40 million are exported from Iran’s southern Hormozgan Province every year, an official with Hormozgan Agricultural Jihad Organization said.

“Close to 140,000 tons of the product are produced from 37,000 hectares of date plantations in Hormozgan,” Hassan Hosseini was also quoted as saying by IRNA. Iran is the world’s second biggest producer of dates and the biggest exporter of the crop. Production stood at close to 1.2 million tons in the last Iranian year that ended on March 20, 2017. About 20% of overall production, worth around $300 million, were exported to Europe, North America, the Far East and Russia. / Financial tribune /