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British Foreign Secretary Has Asked Iran to Free Two Spies

reporter 1222 — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 10:20:24 +0000

TEHRAN – Spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has asked the Islamic Republic to free two spies.

Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Naqavi Hosseini pointed to Johnson’s recent visit to Iran and said, “One of the problems that we face in receiving European delegations is that they make irrational requests from the Iranian side.”

Some of the requests made by European delegations traveling to Iran are regarded as kind of interference in the internal affairs of the country, the lawmaker added.

Johnson has asked Iran to free two British spies, Naqavi Hosseini said, stressing that the issue has not raised in the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission but if so, the commission will oppose the request.

The British top diplomat recently made an official trip to Iran as part of efforts to improve Tehran-London relations.

Iran-Britain ties soured in 2011. On November 27, 2011, a large majority of Iranian lawmakers voted to downgrade diplomatic ties with Britain, following Britain’s decision to impose sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran.

Later, angry Iranian students stormed the British embassy in Tehran and pulled down the European country’s flag.

Following the incident, Britain withdrew its diplomatic staff from Tehran on November 30, 2011, and asked Iran’s diplomatic delegation in London to leave within 48 hours.

The two countries made diplomatic efforts afterward to amend ties.

In August 2015, the British embassy in Iran reopened after a 4-year closure. Britain’s then foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, attended a ceremony in Tehran to mark the reopening on August 23. It was the first visit by a British foreign secretary to Iran since 2003.

Simultaneously, Iran’s embassy in London also reopened.

The thaw in Tehran-London relations came after finalization of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France, and Germany).

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Iran festival secretary satirizes organizations’ reluctance to join in green moves

reporter 1222 — Sun, 17 Sep 2017 06:32:35 +0000

TEHRAN – The secretary of the 6th International Green Film Festival, Farhad Tohidi, jazzed up the closing ceremony of the event on Friday evening by his satirical remarks mocking those private and public commercial organizations over their unwillingness to take part in environmental movements.

He also chided governmental personalities over their disregard of the festival, saying, “We held a meeting with ministers after screening DiCaprio’s ‘Before the Flood’, and some of the ministers were badly injured in a stampede of their colleagues!”

A handful of acclaimed films, including Leonardo DiCaprio’s “Before the Flood”, were screened at the six-day festival. The documentary covers his meetings with scientists, activists and world leaders to discuss the dangers of climate change and possible solutions.

The closing ceremony then went on with honoring winners at the Aseman Cultural Center in Tehran.

Chinese filmmaker Jiuliang Wang’s “Plastic China”, which is a portrait of poverty, ambition and hope set in a world of waste, received the Golden Gazelle for best feature-length documentary.

The film tells the story of a woman and her family that live next to a recycling plant in the midst of mountains of plastic waste from Asia, Europe and the U.S.

The award for best short documentary went to “Where Do We Go?” by Reza Majlesi, which warns about waste disposal and its environmental repercussions in northern Iran.

Iranian director Shirin Barqnavard’s documentary “Poets of Life” won the Golden Gazelle for Best Film with National View.

The film is about Shirin Parsi, an Iranian graduate of French literature from the University of Paris who returns home to work on her rice farm in northern Iran, where many farmers are forced to sell their lands at very low prices to developers.

“Leaf of Life” by Ebrahim Mokhtari, about a man who agrees to plant and harvest saffron to supply the rest of the money he needs to buy a house, won the best feature film award.

“Animal”, a story of a man who attempts to cross a frontier disguised as a ram, co-directed by Bahram and Bahman Ark, was named best short.

“Me + Her” by U.S. director Joseph Oxford was picked as best animation. The movie is about Jack and Jill of Cardboard City who are separated by Jill’s severe illness. Jack must think outside the box to assure they will be together again.

“We Can” by Gholamreza Yarkhalaji won the best experimental film.

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New secretary appointed to Fajr Film Festival

reporter 1222 — Sat, 02 Sep 2017 14:30:30 +0000

TEHRAN – The Cinema Organization of Iran (COI) Director Mohammad-Mehdi Heidarian appointed Ebrahim Darughehzadeh the new secretary of the 36th Fajr Film Festival on Wednesday.

Darughezadeh replaced Mohammad Heidari who had held the position since 2015.

Darughezadeh was the director of the Supervision and Evaluation Office (SEO) of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance since June.

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