Iran and Qatar agreed to establish a joint transport office in order to develop transport ties in maritime, aviation, and transit sectors and to follow up on the removal of barriers.

Qatari Minister of Transport and Communications, Jassim bin Saif bin Ahmed Al Sulaiti, at the head of a delegation met with Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development in Tehran.

In the meeting, Iran and Qatar transport ministers agreed to establish a joint transport office in order to develop transport ties in maritime, aviation, and transit sectors and to follow up on the removal of barriers.

The two sides further discussed cooperation during the World Cup and the facilitation of Iranians’ residence during the event.

The representative of the Iran Ministry of Sport and Youth informed of the allocation of 7500 tickets on the part of Qatar to Iran for each match at the World Cup.

Iran’s exports from Bushehr and Deyr Ports to Qatar Ports have had a 20 percent increase during the first 6 months of the year, officials mentioned.

Previously, during the meeting of Iran and Qatar Ministers of transport in Kish Island on 10 and 11 April, the minutes of joint cooperation in six areas were signed between Iran and Qatar./MNA/

Iranian film ‘World War III’ by Houman Seyyedi has been chosen to represent Iranian cinema at the 2023 Oscars.

The members of the Iranian film committee picked out the film “World War III” as the representative of Iranian cinema at the 95th Academy Awards.

‘World War III’ is a 2022 Iranian thriller drama film co-written, directed, produced, and edited by Houman Seyyedi. The film stars Mohsen Tanabandeh, Mahsa Hejazi, Neda Jebraeili and Navid Nosrati.

Iranian film ‘World War III’ won two awards at the Orizzonti (Horizons) section of the 79th Venice International Film Festival in Italy.

The film is about Shakib, played by Mohsen Tanabandeh, a homeless day labourer who lost his wife and son in an earthquake and who now seeks comfort in the presence and service of Ladan (Mahsa Hejazi), a deaf girl. Shakib finds work as a builder on a construction site which is actually the set of a film about the atrocities committed by Hitler. /MNA/

The Chairman of Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce said that Islamic Republic of Iran will become the transit gateway of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Majidreza Hariri made the comments in an interview with Iranian media on Sunday afternoon and stated that the geographical location of Iran lays the ground for considering Iran as a western gate of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and can be a transit route connecting member countries of the Organization.

Stating that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established with the military and security goals, he put the current number of its members at eight.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Hariri pointed to the trade relations of the member countries of SCO, and noted that Russia and China do their trade exchanges with their national currency, so that Iran can take advantage of this method and opportunity, because, this Organization provides a lot of potentials to create opportunities for cooperation.

India and China are recognized as highly energy-consuming countries, and Iran and Russia possess the largest fossil fuel reserves which will make energy transactions easier by establishing cooperation through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Hariri emphasized.

In addition, Russia and China have bilateral exchanges with each other, which provides the basis for the development of relations between the member countries, the Chairman of Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce added. /MNA/

Iranian freestyle wrestler Rahman Amouzad defeated American opponent John Diakomihalis to win gold medal in the final match of weight of 65kg in 2022 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade of Serbia on Sunday evening.

Rahman Amouzad, in category weight of 65 kg, defeated his American opponent 13-8 in the final match of the 2022 World Wrestling Championships.

Yesterday, Amouzad defeated Jun Suk Yun from South Korea 8-1 in the first round of the competition and then he defeated Ismail Musukaev from Hungary 6-0.

In the semi-final match, Iranian freestyle wrestler Amouzad defeated Haji Aliyev from the Republic of Azerbaijan 9-2 and went to the final.

Last night, Kamran Ghassempour won the first gold medal in the caravan of Iranian wrestling team.

Iran became vice-champion in 2022 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships.

MNA/

Two-time Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi will head up the competition jury for the 2022 Zurich International Film Festival, judging this year’s winners of the Golden Eye honors.

Farhadi will oversee the three-person jury, together with Swiss director Petra Volpe (The Divine Order) and producer Daniel Dreifuss (No, Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front), Swedish producer Peter Gustafsson (Border), and British director Clio Barnard (The Arbor, Dark River), according to Holly Wood Reporter.

Swiss documentary director Fred Baillif (The Fam), Austrian filmmaker Katharina Mückstein (L’animale), film editor Maria Fantastica Valmori (Once More Unto the Breach), and Swiss journalist and media executive Roger Schawinski, will join Vachon on the Focus jury.

Each jury will award a Golden Eye honor for best film in their respective sections, which each comes with a cash bursary of $26,000 (CHF 25,000). This year’s winners will be announced at the Zurich film festival awards ceremony at the Zurich Opera House on October 1.

The 18th edition of the Zurich International Film Festival will be held from September 22 to October 2. /MNA/

Iranian drama “Silent Glory” won three awards, including the Grand Prix, at the 18th edition of the Kazan Festival of Muslim Cinema.

Directed by Nahid Hassanzadeh, the film also received the jury prize of NETPAC, an Asian cinema promotion network, and brought its star Jila Shahi the award for best actress.

Narges Abyar, director of acclaimed Iranian dramas “Track 143” and “When the Moon Was Full”, was a member of the jury.

The winners of the festival, which took place in the capital of Tatarstan, a semi-autonomous region in southwest Russia, were announced on September 12.

The award for best director was given to Magdi Ahmed Ali for “Talaat Harba Street” from Egypt.

“The Adventures of Little Baha” by Russian director Aleksandr Galibin won the award for best screenplay.

Tommaso Fiorilli received the award for best cinematographer for his collaboration in “The Anger”, a co-production between Lebanon and Germany by Maria Ivanova.

“Ivan’s Ladder” by Nikolay Bem was selected as best feature documentary.

The award for best Short fiction was given to “The Little Brother of Angels” by Umedsho Mirzoshirinov from Tajikistan, while “Life” by Muhammed Emin Demiral from Turkey was picked as best short documentary. /T.T/

Kamran Ghasempour of Iran claimed a gold medal in the 2022 World Wrestling Championships on Saturday.

The Iranian freestyler defeated American wrestler J’den Cox 2-0 in the final match of the 92kg.

Ghasempour was put on the shot clock in the first period and responded by scoring a takedown, the only points of the match. There was no scoring in the second period.

It was Iran’s first gold medal in the competition underway in Belgrade, Serbia.

Mohammad Nokhodi in 79kg and Hassan Yazdani in 86kg had previously won two silver medals in the competition./ T.T/

An exhibition of Iranian technological products was held in the Venezuelan capital Caracas on Wednesday.

The largest and most strategic Iranian companies in the fields of the automobile industry, agriculture, medicine, medical equipment, ICT, and creative industries displayed their achievements.

The exhibition started with the presence of 82 Iranian companies and 50 Venezuelan technology groups, which showcased 500 high-quality products to enter the Venezuelan market.

The event was attended by Venezuelan ministers of industry, ICT, agriculture, health, and science and representatives of technology companies.

In August, Venezuela expressed interest to use Iran’s technological capabilities in the fields of medical equipment, agriculture, advanced materials, and the environment. On Tuesday, the Iranian delegation traveled to Caracas with the aim of exchanging experiences and holding meetings.

In August, Venezuelan Minister of Science and Technology Gabriela Servilia Jimenez in a meeting with Iranian Vice President for Science and Technology Sourena Sattari expressed interest to use Iran’s technological capabilities in the fields of medical equipment, animal husbandry technologies, cultivation of medicinal plants, animal medicine, agriculture, advanced materials, and the environment.

Strengthening knowledge-based companies on agenda

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei designated the current Iranian year as “The Year of Production: Knowledge-Based and Job-Creating”.

Strengthening knowledge-based companies are on the agenda, raising hope for reducing obstacles on the path to development.

The Leader has called on all Iranians, including citizens and government officials, to work hard to boost knowledge-based production and create new jobs.

In this regard, a strategic technology development headquarters was formed and 362,000 technological projects and 154 commercialization projects were supported, in addition to the inauguration of 23 national mega projects.

Moreover, in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem development, 65 creative houses and innovation centers, and 30 specialized accelerators have been established with the aim of empowering and strengthening the export capacity of knowledge-based, creative, and technological companies.

So, over 7,000 knowledge-based and 1,600 creative companies have so far been registered and started operations.

The fields of biotechnology, agriculture, food industries, chemical technologies aircraft maintenance, steel, gas, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and medicine, oil, electronics and telecommunications, information technology, and computer software are among the sectors in which researchers in technology companies are working.

Today, the country’s knowledge-based ecosystem accounts for more than 3 percent of GDP. And the figure is projected to reach 5 percent, however, the main goal is to step toward a 10 percent share in GDP, Sattari told Fars on February 13.

The share of knowledge-based companies in the country’s economy has exceeded 9 quadrillion rials (about $34 billion), and since 2019, it has experienced a growth of more than 450 percent, he stated. /T.T/

A total of 21 farms in the northern province of Golestan have received agritourism permits, the provincial tourism chief has said.

The farms are estimated to generate over 180 job opportunities for the locals, CHTN quoted Mohammad Javad Savari as saying on Wednesday.

Such permits are given to eligible farm owners in the country to launch their agritourism businesses, aiming to set certain standards in a move to ensure the quality of their services.

Due to its diverse climate, rich agricultural products, and eco-lodge units in the mountains, plains, and desert slopes, Golestan province is unique in agritourism, the official added.

Agritourism was launched in Golestan province as a pilot project in 2019, and the province was the first in the country that issued agritourism permits, he noted.

Among the objectives of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts is to diversify tourism products in order to take advantage of all the country’s tourism resources, he explained.

In this regard, agritourism is seen as one of the main axes of development in the province, and combining agriculture and tourism in agritourism projects can help both sectors grow economically, he mentioned.

Agritourism is a relatively new branch of the travel industry in which tourists stay with local people in rural areas. Farm/ranch recreation refers to activities conducted on private agricultural lands, which might include fee-hunting and fishing, overnight stays, educational activities, etc.

Experts believe that in addition to the customer services jobs, agritourism pays special attention to the production sector, saying agricultural tourism is much more important and practical than other branches of tourism because it creates a new chain and diversity in the field of production and services.

Agritourism and nature-tourism enterprises might include outdoor recreation (fishing, hunting, wildlife study, horseback riding), educational experiences (cannery tours, cooking classes, or tea or coffee tasting), entertainment (harvest festivals or barn dances), hospitality services (farm stays, guided tours, or outfitter services), and on-farm direct sales (u-pick operations or roadside stands).

Agritourism is a subset of a larger industry called rural tourism that includes resorts, off-site farmers’ markets, non-profit agricultural tours, and other leisure and hospitality businesses that attract visitors to the countryside. /T.T/

An exhibition of the technological achievements of 82 Iranian knowledge-based companies was held in Venezuela on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, representatives of more than 82 knowledge-based firms traveled to Caracas with the aim of exchanging experiences and holding meetings.

The companies are active in the fields of oil, gas, petrochemicals, health, pharmaceuticals, information and communications technology, agriculture, and machinery, ISNA reported.

On the second day of the trip, an exclusive exhibition of Iranian knowledge-based and creative products was held, which was attended by Venezuelan ministers of industry, ICT, agriculture, health, and science and 350 representatives of technology companies.

In August, Venezuelan Minister of Science and Technology Gabriela Servilia Jimenez in a meeting with Iranian Vice President for Science and Technology Sourena Sattari expressed interest to use Iran’s technological capabilities in the fields of medical equipment, animal husbandry technologies, cultivation of medicinal plants, animal medicine, agriculture, advanced materials, and the environment.

Strengthening knowledge-based companies on agenda

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei designated the current Iranian year as “The Year of Production: Knowledge-Based and Job-Creating”.

Strengthening knowledge-based companies are on the agenda, raising hope for reducing obstacles on the path to development.

The Leader has called on all Iranians, including citizens and government officials, to work hard to boost knowledge-based production and create new jobs.

The products were related to oil, gas, petrochemicals, health, information and communications technology, agriculture, and machinery.

In this regard, a strategic technology development headquarters was formed and 362,000 technological projects and 154 commercialization projects were supported, in addition to the inauguration of 23 national mega projects.

Moreover, in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem development, 65 creative houses and innovation centers, and 30 specialized accelerators have been established with the aim of empowering and strengthening the export capacity of knowledge-based, creative, and technological companies.

So, over 7,000 knowledge-based and 1,600 creative companies have so far been registered and started operations.

The fields of biotechnology, agriculture, food industries, chemical technologies aircraft maintenance, steel, gas, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and medicine, oil, electronics and telecommunications, information technology, and computer software are among the sectors in which researchers in technology companies are working.

Today, the country’s knowledge-based ecosystem accounts for more than 3 percent of GDP. And the figure is projected to reach 5 percent, however, the main goal is to step toward a 10 percent share in GDP, Sattari told Fars on February 13.

The share of knowledge-based companies in the country’s economy has exceeded 9 quadrillion rials (about $34 billion), and since 2019, it has experienced a growth of more than 450 percent, he stated. / T.T/