An Iran travel guide introducing the country’s myriads of attractions has been published in Italy in the local language to provide key information on Iran as a travel destination. The move comes shortly after a visit by an Italian trade and tourism delegation to Mazandaran Province, which was the 12th foreign delegation visiting the northern province since the signing of the nuclear deal between Iran and six major world powers last July. The book is expected to help travelers learn more about Iran and encourage them to travel to the Middle East country, IRNA reported. Titled “Welcome to Iran”, the 260-page book covers a wide array of topics and includes a historical timeline of the country, provides interesting facts on Iranian customs, traditions and society. It contains 560 images and 30 maps, with tourist attractions clearly marked. The book is available in select Italian bookshops for €29.5.

/financialtribune.com/

The first major exhibition of Qur’ans in the US, “The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts,” will open at the Smithsonian Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington on Oct. 15 and continue through Feb. 20, 2017.

The exhibition is organized by the Sackler in collaboration with the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul. It will feature more than 60 of the most important Qur’an manuscripts ever produced from the Arab world, Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan.

Celebrated for their superb calligraphy and lavish illumination, these manuscripts span almost 1,000 years of history—from eighth-century Damascus, Syria, to 17th-century Istanbul. Many of the works, which will be on view outside of Turkey for the first time, are critical to the history and appreciation of the arts of the book.

This landmark exhibition tells the individual stories of some of these extraordinary manuscripts, their makers and their owners. Visitors will learn how the Qur’an was transformed from an orally transmitted message to a written, illuminated and bound text produced by highly accomplished artists from the Islamic world, the website asia.si.edu reports.

These Qur’ans were originally created for some of the most powerful rulers of the Islamic world. As the finest examples of their kind, long after their completion the manuscripts were sought out and cherished as prized possessions by the Ottoman ruling elite, whose power once extended from southeast Europe to northern Africa and the Middle East. They were offered as gifts to cement political and military relationships or recognize special acts, and they were also given to public and religious institutions to express personal piety and secure political power and prestige. Donations of Qur’ans to libraries and public institutions by royal women expressed their commitment to contemporary religious and social life.

A Unique Opportunity

Shortly before 1914, when the Ottoman Empire was in political turmoil, its government decided to transfer to Istanbul all valuable works of art that had been donated to mosques, schools, shrines and other religious institutions across the empire. These included thousands of the most ornate Qur’an manuscripts and loose folios, which are housed today in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, located in the heart of the historical city, opposite the so-called Blue Mosque.

“This exhibition offers a unique opportunity to see Qur’ans of different origins, formats and styles and begin to appreciate the power and beauty of the calligraphy as well as intricacy of the illuminated decoration,” said Massumeh Farhad, the Freer and Sackler’s chief curator and curator of Islamic art.

“Although each copy of the Qur’an contains an identical text, the mastery and skill of the artists have transformed it into a unique work of art.”

Farhad joined the gallery in 1995 as associate curator of Islamic art. In 2004, she was appointed chief curator and curator of Islamic art. She is a specialist in the arts of the book from 16th and 17th century Iran.

Farhad has curated numerous exhibitions on the arts of the Islamic world, namely Art of the Persian Courts (1996), Fountains of Light: The Nuhad Es-Said Collection of Metalwork (2000), Love and Yearning: Mystical and Moral Themes in Persian Painting (2003) and The Tsars and the East: Gifts from Turkey and Iran in the Kremlin (2009),

She received her Ph.D. in Islamic Art History from Harvard University in 1987 and has written extensively on 17th-century Persian painting. She is a frequent contributor to the Encyclopaedia Iranica.

Extraordinary Collections

“The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul has one of the most extraordinary collections of Qur’ans in the world, yet its holdings are little known even to many experts,” said Julian Raby, The Dame Jillian Sackler director of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art. “This exhibition provides an unparalleled opportunity for audiences in the United States to appreciate the artistry of Muslim scribes and craftsmen over more than a millennium, in regions from North Africa to Afghanistan.”

The Freer and Sackler galleries have one of the most comprehensive collections of Islamic art in the US. A number of important Qur’ans from the museums’ permanent collections will be on display in the exhibition.

A multi-author, full-color catalog published by the Freer and Sackler will feature a series of essays on the Qur’an, its calligraphy, illumination and organization as a text.

A website will offer additional resources on the art of the Qur’an for online and on-site visitors. These include videos, “closer looks” at several manuscripts, an interactive map and curriculum plans. In addition to extensive public programs, an international symposium on the art of the Qur’an will be held December 1-3.

/financialtribune.com/

Iran has increased its visa on arrival extension from 1 month to 3 months, Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicraft Organization Director Masoud Soltanifar announced.

For the time being, citizens of 190 countries can obtain visa on arrival at the country’s airports with one-month validation, he added.

“The decision will pave the way for development of tourism industry in Iran,” he said.

He named Imam Khomeini International Airport as well as airports in Shiraz, Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz, Bandar Abbas, Larestan, Kish, and Qeshm as places which issue visa on arrival up to now.

“Airports of Urmia, Ahvaz, Yazd and Tehran’s Mehrabad will issue visa on arrival in the near future,” he noted.

In August 2015, Iran extended visa on arrival from 15 days to 30 days.

In October 2015, Soltanifar said the easing of visa rules was opening the door for the return of foreign tourists to Iran.

Even before sanctions are lifted, the number of foreigners visiting Iran has grown 12 percent in each of the past two years.

In 2014, Iran hosted over five million tourists, bringing in some $7.5 billion in revenue.

/Tehran times /

Among top one percent most quoted medical researchers worldwide are 36 Iranian scientists, according to a January report by the official website of Essential Science Indicators (ESI) of Thomson Reuters, IRNA reported on Saturday.

Thomson Reuters regularly provides an updated list of the most leading researchers in the world based on the last 10 years of their academic career.

Based on the repot, the Iranian scientists quoted most in descending order are:

19 from Tehran University of medical Sciences, 4 from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, 3 from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, 2 from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 2 from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, 2 from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, 1 from Tehran’s Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, 1 from Iran University of Medical Sciences, and last but not least 1 from Zanjan University of Medical Sciences.

For the first time, Shahin Akhoundzadeh and Ali Reza Esteqamati both from Tehran University of medical Sciences, Parvin Mir Miran from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Maziar Moradi Lakeh from Iran university of Medical Sciences were included in the above list.

ESI is a resource that enables researchers to conduct ongoing, quantitative analyses of research performance and track trends in science. ESI covers 10 million articles in 22 fields of research and is updated every two months./ Tehran times /

A new Persian translation of Sadi’s Gulistan (The Rose Garden) into a rhythmic version will be reviewed in a meeting at Tehran’s Melal cultural center on July 22.

Iranian scholar and translator Abdolmahmud Rezvani is will talk about the process of his works and how he has managed to translate the works into poetry.

Sheikh Muslih od-Din Sadi Shirazi (C. 1213-1291) is one of the greatest figures of classical Persian literature famous worldwide for his Gulistan and Bustan (The Orchard).

/ Tehran times /

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and top officials have expressed their condolences over the sad demise of internationally-acclaimed Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami.

President Rouhani said on his Twitter page on Tuesday that Kiarostami’s “distinct and deep view to life and his invitation of humans to peace and friendship will be a lasting achievement” in cinema.

Kiarostami died on Monday in France where he had been receiving treatment for cancer. The 76-year-old award-winning scholar succumbed to a stroke in Paris few days after leaving Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also said on his Twitter page that Iran has lost “a towering figure” in international cinema and expressed hope that the Almighty would receive him “in his infinite mercy.”

In the post, Zarif addressed the director as “ostad,” a term of respect used to refer to prominent artists.

Iranian Culture Minister Ali Jannati also expressed his condolences over Kiarostami’s demise, saying he gave a new meaning to cinema by creating innovative, exquisite and modern works.

In March 2016, Kiarostami was diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer, following which he underwent a series of operations.

Kiarostami wrote and directed dozens of films over a career spanning more than four decades. In 1997, his film “Taste of Cherry” won the the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival.

In his late years, Kiarostami started to travel the world, making “Certified Copy” in Italy and “Like Someone in Love” in Japan.

Referring to his travels, he said he was attempting to make a narrative about “universal characters that can be accessible to everyone.” / press tv/

More than 3,300 transplants were performed in Iran over the last Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2015- March 19, 2016), the director for transplant management department of Health Ministry has said.

“Iran is in quite a good situation regarding the transplants surgeries,” Mohammad Kazemeini told ISNA news agency.

Some 2,500 of the surgeries are pertaining to kidney transplants, Kazemeini said, adding, 716 liver and 102 heart transplant surgeries were performed over the same period.

57 percent of kidney donors were brain dead, he noted, “We are planning on increasing the number of the transplants from the brain dead patients as in addition to kidney we can procure other organs as well.”

Last year some 800 patients were diagnosed with brain death and they donated 2,300 organs of which 1,400 were kidneys, he added.

Currently, he said, there exist 29 kidney transplant centers as well as seven centers for liver, eight for heart and two for lung transplant.

He further mentioned the considerable costs of transplant surgeries including the equipment, the treatment process and the medications which are mostly provided by the government.

Inquired about insurance companies’ share in transplant surgeries Kazemeini noted that these companies only offer coverage for kidney transplants and that the rest of the transplant surgeries are covered by the Health Ministry. / Tehran times /

A nutritionist at Iran’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended Muslims observing the ritual of fasting to substitute herbal juice or herbal teas for soda pops.

In a report published by IRNA Sunday, Shahrzad Behrouzi said that in the scorching hot days of summer season when your body perspires heavily, it is best that devout Muslims drink concentrated herbal juice like chicory and fumaria for Iftar to lessen the sense of thirst and dehydration.

Adding the recommended amount of concentrated herbal juice to water, Behrouzi stressed, make sure the herbal juice is produced by reliable companies.

Rose water and concentrated form of mint, musk willow, and chicory juice are very popular in Iran, as they come from medicinal plants and have medicinal properties, she noted.  /Tehran times /

Iran’s exports of agricultural products stood at 955,000 tons during the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-May 20, 2016), registering an increase of 22.5 percent compared with the same time in previous year, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.

 

The exported agricultural products were at the value of $802 million, which also shows a hike of 4.59 percent, compared to the same period in the preceding year.

In terms of value, the exported amount stands for 13.91 percent and in terms of weight constitutes 6.2 percent of the total exports of Iran’s non-oil products in these two months.

Apples, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, yoghurt, tomato paste, milk, and cream were among the exported agro products in the said time.

Iran’s non-oil exports value with a 20 percent increase is planned to reach over $50 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2017), IRIB quoted Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Mohammadreza Nematzadeh as saying on May 30.

It is predicted that by the end of the current calendar year, the value of exports in industry, mining and trade sphere will reach $38 billion and the figure for the agricultural products and gas condensate will stand at $5 billion and $7 billion, respectively, the minister added.

/ Tehran times /

DVDs containing recitation of the Holy Quran by Hannaeh Khalafi, a 10-year-old memorizer of the entire Quran, was unveiled during a ceremony at the 24th International Holy Quran Exhibition on Friday.

The ceremony took place in the presence of Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati where Hannaneh recited several verses from the Surah of Nur (the 24th surah of the Holy Quran), Persian media have reported.

A short film on the different processes of preparing and recording the collection was screened for the participants at the ceremony.

Expert on the Holy Quran recitation Mohammad-Hossein Sabazali who has collaborated in preparing the collection, called Hannaneh a genius who has been invited to different countries to perform.

Sabzali said that the visual section of the collection is also being prepared and will be released soon.

He asked the minister to prepare and donate copies of this collection to young reciters.

The Holy Quran is comprised of 114 surahs (chapter), and is divided into 30 sections, each of which is called a joz.

Quran exhibit is currently underway at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosalla and will be running until June 28.

/ Tehran times/