Iran has started using the images and data sent from domestically-made satellites including Khayyam after inaugurating the first satellite sensing center.

The first remote sensing center for satellites was put into operation on Saturday morning during a ceremony which was attended by the head of Iran’s Space Agency (ISA) Hassan Salarieh and the ICT minister Isa Zarepour.

The building which is entitled Khayyam Remote Sensing Sattlite Center is able to carry out missions from satellite control to the processing of images received from the Khayyam satellite.

The building becomes the main center to communicate with the Khayyam satellite, which is connected twice within 24 hours, one in the morning and another during the night.

With the opening of this center, operations related to analyzing Khayyam satellite images and handing the data collected to knowledge-based companies and government institutions will begin. / MNA/

The tourism authorities of the Iranian capital plan to organize arrays of literary tours, IRNA reported on Sunday.

The participants will explore house museums of the literary luminaries of the city through the tours, which will be held on Monday and Tuesday, an official with Tehran Municipality said.

The tours will include visits to the historical houses of poets Nima Yushij, Mehdi Akhavan-Saless, Forugh Farrokhzad and literary couple Jalal Al-e-Ahmad and Simin Daneshvar, Mohammad Moayyedi explained.

The participants will also be given detailed explanations of the celebrities, their careers, and their lives, he noted.

The streets and neighborhoods of Tehran are a treasure trove of the city’s identity, he mentioned.

Some of the historical mansions across the city have been home to famous cultural figures and have shaped the literary history of the country, he added.

Last year, Tehran Municipality announced that a “cultural passage” was to be set up to connect the house of the late poet Nima Yushij to the one that once was the home of literary couple Jalal Al-e-Ahmad and Simin Daneshvar.

Earlier that month, the fully renovated house of Yushij, who is famed as the father of modern Persian poetry, was officially unveiled by the municipality’s Beautification Organization.

In 2019, Tehran Municipality purchased the house, which is situated in northern Tehran near the house of the famed Iranian couple Al-e-Ahmad and Daneshvar, who were novelists and short-story writers.

Yushij came to the scene of change at a time when all the conservative efforts of the Neo-classicists, Revivalists, and others had failed to free Persian poetry from the long decadence which was, to a great extent, the result of the ruling power of prosody over the subject matter.

Al-e Ahmad translated works by French writers André Gide, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus into Persian. In 2008, Iran established the Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Awards in memory of the writer, who passed away in 1969.

Mehdi Akhavan-Saless wrote over twenty books, including “Arghanun” and “Winter.” He was well acquainted with Persian classical poetry. However, he focused on free-verse poetry.

Akhavan-Saless taught Persian literature at the University of Tehran and several other academic centers and was sentenced to several years in prison and exile for his political activities during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The poet was buried in Tus beside the tomb of Ferdowsi, the poet who wrote the Persian epic masterpiece, the Shahnameh.

The influential Iranian poet and film director Forugh Farrokhzad (1935-1967) is considered one of the Iranian modernists and most famous female poets.

Her first book of poetry, “The Captive”, was published in 1955. “The Wall”, “The Rebellion” and “Another Birth” are her other works. Farrokhzad died in a car accident when she was 32.

Literary tourism is a type of cultural tourism and occurs when authors or their literature become so popular that people are drawn to either those locations associated with the author such as their birthplace, home, graveside, or those featured within their writings. /T.T/

Iran’s national Taekwondo team has won the title of the Lebanese international taekwondo competition with 20 colorful medals.

The tournament was held on Saturday with 161 taekwondo in two men’s and women’s divisions in all weights, and finally, Iranian athletes gained 12 gold, 6 silver, and two bronze medals, and won the title in total.

In the women’s division, Saeideh Nasiri, Mobina Nematzadeh, Zahra Sheidaei, Narges Nourollahi, Zeynab Esmaeili won the gold medal for Iran national team, while Ghazal Soltani and Fatemeh Shafiepour gained silver and bronze medal respectively in this tournament.

In the men’s division, Mehdi Hajmoosaei, Armin Hadipour, Reza Kalhor, Amir Mohammad Bakhshi, Mirhashem Hosseini, Mehran Barkhordari, Sajad Mardani gained the gold medal, while Abolfazl Zandi, Farzan Ashoorzadeh, Mohammad Hossein Yazdani, Mehdi Abedini, Ali Najafi won the silver medal.

Abolfazl Abbasi received the bronze medal in this tournament.

The competition was held from October 7 to 9 in Beirut, Lebanon. /MNA/

Iran ranks second with 74 universities in the D8 university ranking 2021.

D8 includes major Muslim developing countries namely, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.

The D8 group considers the most important missions of universities, which include research, innovation, education, and international activities.

The countries of Turkey, Iran, and Indonesia had the largest number of universities in the ranking.

In this ranking, the universities of Malaya, Cosmats University of Islamabad, Tehran Medical Sciences, Cairo University from Egypt, and Tehran University have obtained the first to fifth ranks in this ranking.

Tehran University of Medical Sciences has won the first rank among the universities of Iran.

There are 74 universities from Iran in the ranking, of which 17 are among the top 50. Tehran University of Medical Sciences, the University of Tehran, and the Sharif University of Technology ranked 3rd, 5th, and 14th, respectively.

———Academic quality

Most recently, the Leiden ranking system published the 2022 report, according to which 44 Iranian universities were among the 1,318 top universities in the world.

Also, the Iran University of Medical Sciences has ranked the world’s leading university for contributing to delivering the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal of good health and well-being.

Fifty-eight universities from Iran were listed among the top universities in Asia, according to the 2022 Asia University Rankings of the Times Higher Education.

The 2022 edition of the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, based on universities’ contributions to delivering the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), listed 27 Iranian universities.

The Webometrics Ranking of World Universities 2022 has ranked 694 Iranian institutions among 30,000 top universities across the world.

Also, 59 Iranian universities have been listed among the top 3,000 institutions in the world in terms of academic quality, according to the 2021-2022 report released by University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP).

The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Graduate Employability Rankings 2022 list has been released, which included three Iranian universities out of a total of 550 institutes worldwide that highlighted graduate employment processes.

Meanwhile, 41 Iranian universities in engineering sciences and 12 universities in computer sciences have made a place among the top 1,188 universities in the world with the announcement of Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 by subject.

It also has introduced 59 Iranian universities among the top institutions in World University Rankings 2022. /T.T/

The national Iranian men’s futsal team trounced the team of Vietnam at the quarterfinal of AFC Futsal Asian Cup.

Iran trounced Vietnam in the quarterfinal of AFC Futsal Asian Cup 8-1 on Tuesday. The Iranian futsal team trounced Vietnam 14-1 in the 2016 Asian nations cup.

With these reuslts, Iran has now advanced to the semifinal and in order to reach the final, it will have to compete against the winner of Thailand and Tajikistan.

The competitions are held in Kuwait. Defending champions Iran ended its AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ Kuwait 2022 Group C campaign with a perfect record of three wins on Sunday. /MNA/

The central province of Yazd will be hosting an international conference on religious tourism, CHTN reported on Monday. The 4th edition of the International Conference on Tourism and Spirituality will be held in mid-November, the report added.

The event aims at promoting Yazd’s potential in this branch of tourism.

The country is home to hundreds of shrines, Imamzadehs, mausoleums, churches, and even fire temples amongst other religious destinations which are dedicated to different faiths. Among the top destinations for international tourists to Iran are the religious cities of Mashhad, Qom, Shiraz, and the capital Tehran.

These cities are respectively home to the holy shrines of Imam Reza, the eighth Imam of Shia Muslims; his sister Hazrat Masumeh (SA); his brothers Ahmad and Mohammad; as well as the late founder of the Islamic Revolution Imam Rouhollah Khomeini.

A unique time for visiting Iran for religious tourists is during the first ten days of the lunar month of Muharram, when Iranians, who are mostly Shia Muslims, hold special ceremonies to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his 72 loyal companions.

In July 2017, the historical structure of the city of Yazd was named a UNESCO World Heritage. Wedged between the northern Dasht-e Kavir and the southern Dasht-e Lut on a flat plain, the oasis city enjoys a very harmonious public-religious architecture that dates from different eras.

Yazd is usually referred to as a delightful place to stay, or a “don’t miss” destination by almost all of its visitors. It teems with mudbrick houses that are equipped with innovative badgirs (wind catchers), atmospheric alleyways, and many Islamic and Iranian monuments that shape its eye-catching city landscape.

It is a living testimony to the intelligent use of limited available resources in the desert for survival. Water is brought to the city by the qanat system. Each district of the city is built on a qanat and has a communal center.

Buildings are built of earth. The use of earth in buildings includes walls and roofs by the construction of vaults and domes. Houses are built with courtyards below ground level, serving underground areas. Wind-catchers, courtyards, and thick earthen walls create a pleasant microclimate.

Partially covered alleyways together with streets, public squares and courtyards contribute to a pleasant urban quality. The city escaped the modernization trends that destroyed many traditional earthen cities.

It survives today with its traditional districts, the qanat system, traditional houses, bazaars, hammams, water cisterns, mosques, synagogues, Zoroastrian temples, and the historic garden of Dolat-Abad. The city enjoys the peaceful coexistence of three religions: Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism. /T.T/

A total of 184 tourism-related projects are currently underway across the southern province of Fars, the provincial tourism chief has said.

An investment value of 64 trillion rials ($214 million) has been channeled into the projects, Seyyed Moayyed Mohsen-Nejad explained on Saturday.

The projects are expected to generate over 5,000 job opportunities upon their completion, the official added.

The ancient region of Fars, also spelled Pars or Persis, was the heart of the Achaemenian Empire (c. 550–330 BC), which was founded by Cyrus the Great and had its capital at Pasargadae. Darius I the Great moved the capital to nearby Persepolis in the late 6th or early 5th century BC.

The capital city of Shiraz is home to some of the country’s most magnificent buildings and sights. Increasingly, it draws more and more foreign and domestic sightseers flocking to this provincial capital which was the literary capital of Persia during the Zand dynasty from 1751 to 1794.

Shiraz is home to some of the country’s most magnificent buildings and sights including Eram Garden, Afif-Abad Garden, Tomb of Hafez, Tomb of Sa’di, and Jameh Mosque of Atigh.

Underway tourism-related projects across Iran

Back in September, the tourism ministry announced that tourism-related projects worth three quadrillion rials ($10 billion) are currently underway across Iran.

According to the ministry some of the projects, which are under construction in different provinces, have achieved 70 percent physical progress.

A total of 183 projects are also scheduled to be inaugurated nationwide during the national tourism week (September 27- October 3), with a budget of 310 trillion rials ($1.1 billion).

These projects, which include hotels, apartment hotels, eco-lodges, traditional restaurants, and tourist complexes, are expected to generate some 2200 job opportunities.

Experts suppose the country is to achieve a tourism boom after the coronavirus is contained, believing its impact would be temporary and short-lived for a country that ranked the third fastest-growing tourism destination in 2019.

The Islamic Republic expects to reap a bonanza from its numerous tourist spots such as bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, and mansions, of which 26 are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Under the 2025 Tourism Vision Plan, Iran aims to increase the number of tourist arrivals from 4.8 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2025. /T.T/

A national event on gastronomy tourism was inaugurated in Tehran on Sunday, CHTN reported.

The opening ceremony of the 2nd edition of the Event on Iran and Food Tourism in the New Century was attended by the Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Minister Ezzatollah Zarghami and a number of cultural and tourism officials.

The concept of food tourism encompasses art, love, knowledge, skill, and culture, said the minister.

When it comes to food tourism, branding is an important point to consider, he added.

Food from each region could become the tourism brand of that region and province through scientific and artistic work in this regard, he explained.

Traditionally, the food and beverages of some provinces are their brands, but this area has a lot of potential for expansion, he mentioned.

One of the important topics in low-cost tourism is food since the food is a large portion of travel expenses, so cheap food must be provided while maintaining quality for tourists as a whole to witness a boom in tourism, he stated.

The event, which was organized in collaboration with the private sector, aimed to provide a roadmap for national food to enter the international arena in alignment with tourism growth.

Food tourism and sustainable development, culture-oriented food tourism, food tourism, and knowledge-based products and food tourism marketing were discussed during the one-day event.

Back in May, an official with the tourism ministry announced that Iran is developing a national blueprint to boost gastronomy tourism, vowing to prepare for both domestic and international scenes.

“At present, together with private sector activists and other related agencies, we are developing a food tourism roadmap to achieve three outputs of the domestic and foreign tourism boom, and finally to launch a branding campaign,” he said.

Iran is the paradise of foodies. Every province and even every city of Iran has its specific delectable dishes. So, one can enjoy a wide range of foods here in Iran; and Kermanshah is one of the most popular places among foodies.

The cornerstone of every Persian meal is rice or Polo. Persian cuisine is, above all, about balance — of tastes and flavors, textures and temperatures. In every meal, even on every plate, you’ll find both sweet and sour, soft and crunchy, cooked and raw, hot and cold.

No Persian meal is complete without an abundance of herbs. Every table is set with sabzi-khordan, a basket of fresh herbs, radishes, and scallions, which are eaten raw and by the handful, often tucked into a piece of fresh flatbread with a bite of feta, cucumber, or walnuts.

Experts believe that food tourism has become one of the most dynamic and creative segments of tourism and, at the same time, has naturally positioned itself as an element of diversification of tourism with a high impact on the promotion of sustainable development at the regional and local levels.

In 2020, Iran joined an online campaign launched by the UNWTO to promote gastronomy as an essential part of tourism. Iranian cuisine, usually dominated by fragrant herbs, varies from region to region. It principally accentuates freshness, deliciousness, and colorfulness./T.T/

Defending champions Iran defeated Lebanon 9-0 to end their AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ Kuwait 2022 Group C campaign with a perfect record of three wins on Sunday.

The 12-time champions will face Vietnam in the quarter-finals, having booked their place in the knockout stage with a match to spare.

Iran were left frustrated by Lebanon’s early resistance with the West Asians threatening in the third minute through Fadi Greij’s shot, while at the other end Saeid Ahmad Abbasi did well to control Saeid Momen’s long throw but hit his half-volley high above the bar.

Iran gradually took control with Hossein Tayebibidgoli missing the target from just inside the box before Mohammadhossein Bazyar’s forced effort off a corner was easily collected by Lebanon keeper Karim Joueidi.

Iran finally broke the deadlock in the eighth minute with Salar Aghapour netting a beautiful individual effort, shooting into the top right corner.

Alireza Shahkhali was twice denied by the bar before he set up Tayebi in the 17th minute for the second goal, with Mustafa Rhyem then scoring an own goal.

Lebanon suffered more woe after Mouhammad Hammoud was forced out of the game through injury in the 18th minute, with Moslem Oladghobad then adding Iran’s fourth from distance.

There was no denying Iran’s superiority as they scored their fifth goal a minute into the restart through Bahman Jafari’s long-range effort before Oladghobad netted again seven minutes later.

Lebanon tried to stem the tide but their efforts fell flat as Iran stretched their lead in the 27th minute with Mahdi Karimi scoring from the half-way line into an unattended goalmouth before Aghapour added his second goal five minutes later from close-range.

Tayebi capped the victory in the 39th minute, beating two defenders on the turn before slotting home. /T.T/

The Statistics Department of Turkey announced that Iran’s export of non-oil goods to the Republic of Turkey in the first five months of the current year (from March 21 to August 23) has registered a 49 percent growth.

According to the Statistics, Iran’s trade exchanges with Turkey from Jan. to Aug. 2022 has recorded a 29 percent hike.

Another statistic put Iran-Turkey trade exchanges in the first eight months of the current year in 2022 (from Jan. to Aug.) at $4.332 billion, showing a 29 percent growth as compared to the last year’s corresponding period.

Iran-Turkey value of trade exchanges was announced $3.34 billion last year (from Jan. to Aug. 2021).

Based on this report, Turkey’s export value of products to the Islamic Republic of Iran from Jan. to Aug. 2022 hit $1.950 billion, showing a 11 percent growth.

Accordingly, Turkey had exported $1.752 billion worth of non-oil products to Iran from Jan. to Aug. 2021.

Turkey’s import of products from Iran in the first eight months of the current year in 2022 hit $2.382 billion, showing a 49 percent growth as compared to the same period of last year.

The balance of trade between Iran and Turkey in this period hit $432 million in favor of Iran, the report added. /MNA/