TEHRAN (Iran News) Director General of East Azerbaijan Crisis Management says the Iranian Armed Forces’ air defense in Tabriz successfully shot down an Israeli F-35 fighter jet in Tabriz, northwestern Iran.

Speaking to IRNA on Tuesday, Majid Farshi said two combat drones had earlier been shot down in Tabriz.

He added that three locations around Tabriz were targeted on Tuesday, and air defense systems engaged the Israeli invading micro air vehicles (MAVs).

This marks the fourth F-35 fighter jet to be intercepted and destroyed by Iran’s air defenses.

The Israeli regime began strikes inside Iranian territory, including on residential buildings, in an unprovoked act of aggression overnight on June 13. High-ranking Iranian military officials were assassinated in targeted strikes. Civilians lost their lives as houses were directly struck, affecting entire population centers.

The Israeli military also carried out strikes against Iran’s top military brass. Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri and Chief Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Hossein Salami were among the senior military officials assassinated in Tehran.

Speaking to IRNA on Tuesday, Majid Farshi said two combat drones had earlier been shot down in Tabriz.

He added that three locations around Tabriz were targeted on Tuesday, and air defense systems engaged the Israeli invading micro air vehicles (MAVs).

This marks the fourth F-35 fighter jet to be intercepted and destroyed by Iran’s air defenses.

The Israeli regime began strikes inside Iranian territory, including on residential buildings, in an unprovoked act of aggression overnight on June 13. High-ranking Iranian military officials were assassinated in targeted strikes. Civilians lost their lives as houses were directly struck, affecting entire population centers.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) During the opening ceremony, the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts, Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri, remarked that this is a memorable day for Azerbaijan, describing the region as “a land of secrets and mysteries” that has historically saved the nation from tyranny in two key moments.

He referred to the Constitutional Revolution and the Islamic Revolution, stating that the “winds of freedom” began blowing from this region. “Azerbaijan is like a shining jewel that all Iranians are proud of,” he added.

The minister emphasized the historical, cultural, and artistic significance of Azerbaijan, saying, “Iran without Azerbaijan and Tabriz is incomplete.”

The 3rd International Tourism Exhibition and the 11th National Handicrafts Exhibition are being held at the Parvin Etesami, Shahriar, and Azerbaijan halls of the Tabriz International Exhibition Center. The event showcases a variety of handicrafts, including traditional weaving (Varni Bafi), enamelwork (Minakari), metal and silver engraving, batik printing, and Mamqan embroidery. Additionally, booths from travel agencies, hotels, and tourism associations are present, featuring about 70 exhibition stalls.

The exhibition will be open to the public from today until October 19, from 3 PM to 9 PM.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) According to the Public Relations Office of the East Azerbaijan Department of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts, Tabriz International Fairground will host the event on October 16-19 as the exhibition will be open to the public from 15 to 21 p.m. everyday.

The director of the Association of Tourism Organizations of East Azerbaijan announced the participation of eight foreign countries in the 3rd International Tourism Exhibition of Tabriz.

Rashid Rajabpour, speaking at a press conference, stated that the exhibition will be held from October 16 to 19, concurrent with the 11th Tabriz Handicrafts Exhibition. He added that significant efforts had been made for a long time to attract more foreign countries and tourism institutions, resulting in better participation compared to previous years.

Rajabpour confirmed the presence of tourism representatives from Turkey, Cuba, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, the Republic of Armenia, Iraq, and the Kurdistan Region, and mentioned ongoing negotiations for the participation of Azerbaijan, which is highly likely to attend.

He announced that the 3rd International Tourism Exhibition of Tabriz will be held at the Shahriar Hall of the Tabriz International Exhibition Center, and noted that the participation of 17 provinces from Iran has also been finalized.

He mentioned that there will be 70 booths at the exhibition, and due to overwhelming interest from companies and tourism professionals, 29 applications had to be declined due to limited physical space and available booths.

Rajabpour further stated that 11 booths have been allocated for foreign countries, given the strong interest in the event.

He assessed the conditions of this year’s tourism exhibition as highly favorable compared to the previous two, stating that the event is poised for positive outcomes in the field. Despite considering the addition of another hall, this could not be achieved due to time and financial constraints.

This tourism official highlighted the significant potential and facilities of the lucrative tourism industry in East Azerbaijan, emphasizing the need to promote these advantages both domestically and internationally. He added that media cooperation could have a highly positive and impactful effect on the economy of the region and the country, as tourism is one of the most profitable global industries.

Rajabpour described neglecting the tourism sectors of Iran and East Azerbaijan as irreparable and stressed that organizing various exhibitions and attending those in other countries could resolve many of the country’s tourism challenges and pave the way for developing the industry.

He mentioned that weaknesses identified in the previous two exhibitions had been reviewed, and steps were taken to address them this year. The 2024 event aims to improve on past shortcomings with a range of additional activities and positive changes.

The director of the Association of Tourism Organizations of East Azerbaijan thanked the province’s Department of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism for preparing, coordinating, and creating the necessary conditions for holding the 3rd International Tourism Exhibition and the 11th Handicrafts Exhibition of Tabriz. He emphasized that without the cooperation and synergy between the public and private sectors, holding such exhibitions would not be possible.

The Tabriz Tourism Exhibition is an annual event held in Tabriz, a city in northwestern Iran known for its rich cultural heritage and historical significance. This exhibition aims to promote tourism in the region and highlight Tabriz’s role as a cultural and commercial hub, attracting both domestic and international tourists. The event showcases the diverse attractions of the city and its surrounding areas, including its historical landmarks, traditional handicrafts, culinary heritage, and natural landscapes.

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The day, which fell on Saturday this year, is observed every year on the death anniversary of the most prominent figure of contemporary Persian poetry Mohammad-Hossein Behjat Tabrizi – Shahriar, who is buried at the cemetery.

“No works of any contemporary Persian poet could have influenced people’s minds as much as Shahriar’s, and his poems are within the memories of many people nowadays,” Academy of Persian Language and Literature director Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said at the meeting.

He pointed to the numerous poets buried at the cemetery and said, “I don’t suppose there is a city like Tabriz that has such a graveyard housing tombs of numerous great poets; this cemetery keeps many gems hidden under its soil that represent the grandeur and genuineness of Azarbaijan.”

“In a city as grand as Tabriz, a poet like Shahriar was born; someone who belongs to Iran and is the honor of Azarbaijan and Tabriz,” added Haddad-Adel, who is also the director the Sadi Foundation, Iran’s organization that promotes the Persian language abroad.

He called Shahriar very knowledgeable about Persian classical poetry, history of Persian literature and contemporary Persian poetry, and said, “He loved not only works by Sadi and Hafez, but also poems by Malek ush-Shoaraye Bahar [Mohammad-Taqi Bahar] and Nima.”

“Shahriar was as attached to the Persian language as much as he loved his native language; if some people want to know Iran’s policy about the Persian and Azerbaijani languages, we tell them that Shahriar is our role model, he has composed both in Persian and Azerbaijani. The government also follows this policy of respecting the Azerbaijani language as the native language of the region and the Persian language as the official language of the country, because the Azerbaijani language and other non-Persian languages are considered as cultural assets of the country,” he stated.

Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili also sent a message to the meeting.

He called the Persian language as a cultural element that has always bolstered Iranians’ national identity, and added that the pleasant ambiance of the language has extended beyond national boundaries, impressing its lovers across the world.

Several ensembles also gave performances during the meetings, and a number of scholars were honored for their studies on Shahriar.

Shahriar was mainly influenced by the poetry of Hafez, a Persian poet who wrote in the 14th century.

Shahriar, who also composed works in Azerbaijani, published his first book of poems in 1929 with prefaces by Persian literature scholars Mohammad-Taqi Bahar, Saeid Nafisi and Pejman Bakhtiari.

“Heidar Babaya Salam” is Shahriar’s most famous Azerbaijani poetry collection, which highlights his birthplace, the village of Heidar Baba.

Photo: An Iranian ensemble performs during a meeting organized at Maqbarat ush-Shoara in Tabriz on September 17, 2021 to celebrate the National Day of Persian Poetry and Literature. (Fars/Ali Hamed-Haqdoost) 

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This was announced by Managing Director of Aras Free Zone Organization Mohsen Nariman in a meeting with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Gholamreza Ansari on Monday, IRNA reported.

Nariman said the meeting is aimed at expanding Iran’s interactions as well as economic and trade relations with the countries of the Eurasia and Caucasus regions.

In an address to the same meeting, Ansari said AFZ is Iran’s only gateway to the markets of the members of the EAEU and Commonwealth of Independent States.

He stressed that it is necessary to increase non-oil export-oriented interactions and trade transactions with these countries using AFZ’s capabilities, capacities and potential.

AFZ plays a major role in and has a good geographical position for trade with the EAEU states, Ansari said.

Noting that Armenia is the only EAEU member having common land border with Iran, the deputy minister called for using this opportunity to introduce the route passing through Armenia as the road for transit of Iranian products to the union’s member states.

According to figures by Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), during October 2019-June 2020, trade between Iran and the EAEU members witnessed an increase of 14 percent, compared to what it was in the same period of the preceding year.

The increase was achieved despite the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the drop in global trade.

The first meeting of Iran-EAEU trade taskforce, which was set up to expand trade between the two sides after they inked a preferential trade agreement in October 2019, was held online on July 8.

The meeting was attended by Hamid Zadboum, the TPO’s head, and Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali, as well as other officials from Iran and the EAEU member states.

Speaking at the meeting, Zadboum said, “We are trying to remove the obstacles to boosting bilateral trade through cooperation.”

Having an annual trade of over $800 billion, the EAEU member states play a significant role in the global trade, he noted, adding Iran attaches great importance to the expansion of trade with these countries.

Zadboum said annual trade between Iran and the EAEU member countries currently stands at over $2 billion, which can be increased to $5 billion in the short term and $10 billion in the long run.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – Plan to connect Tabriz Petrochemical Company to West Ethylene Pipeline was opened in Miandoab, West Azarbaijan province, on Thursday in the presence of Chief of Staff of Iranian President Mahmoud Vaezi.

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Rahmani was killed as his fighter jet, MiG 29, crashed over the Sabalan mountainous region in the northwestern province of Ardabil on Wednesday.

Rahmani was one of “the most experienced pilots” of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) who had a brilliant career record by operating hundreds of flight missions, the Army said in a statement on Friday.

The fighter aircraft had taken off from an airbase in the city of Tabriz.

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Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet session in Tehran on Wednesday, Ardakanian said during the president’s trip to East Azarbaijan Province, the largest wind farm in Iran, which consists of 20 turbines with a total capacity to produce 50 megawatts (MW) of electricity, will be inaugurated.

The minister further said 9,600 billion rials ($8 million) in funding has been spent on the domestically made wind farm in Mianeh.

Speaking at a press conference in December 2018, Mohammad Sadeqzadeh, the director of Iran’s Renewable Energy and Electrical Energy Efficiency Organization, a subsidiary of the Energy Ministry, said people and the private sector have made a huge investment in the renewable energy industry in recent years.

Even the “cruel sanctions” could not slow down the growth of the renewable energy industry in Iran, he said at the time, adding that local investment has now outstripped foreign investment in this sector.

Iran is seeking 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2020, with more than 4,000 megawatts expected to come from wind power. The country has approximately 141 megawatts of installed wind power.

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“A 19-member delegation of cultural officials, mayors, and artisans from Iran, which [currently] has the topmost number of world crafts cities and villages left for China last night to attend the World Craft Cities Network Forum,” IRIB quoted deputy tourism minister Pouya Mahmoudian as saying on Monday.

“The delegation is composed of the mayors of Marivan, Lalejin, Meybod, Sirjan, and Saravan (who represents Kalporgan village), nine craftspeople and four officials in charge of cultural heritage and handicrafts,” she added.

The first leg of the forum is being held in Exi, China, on November 4 to 6, while the second is scheduled to take place in Kuching, Malaysia, she noted.

The World Crafts Cities Network Forum will be held in conjunction with the Ninth World Eco Fibre and Textile (WEFT) Forum, Exhibition, and Fashion Show; and ASEAN Handicraft Promotion and Development Association (Ahpada).

The WEFT Forum was initiated by Society Atelier Sarawak in 1999 and has been a biennial event, with the objectives to promote, share and acquire knowledge on the use of natural fibers and dyes; to conserve and encourage the use of natural, sustainable material in the creation of arts and crafts; and to network amongst natural-material producers and the craftspeople through the establishment of an information database.

The World Crafts Council – Asia Pacific Region (WCC-APR) has also designated other Iranian cities such as Mashhad, Isfahan, and Tabriz as world crafts hubs.

Handicrafts exports form the Islamic Republic reached $289 million in the past Iranian calendar year 1397 (ended March 20), showing three percent growth year on year, Mahmoudian said in June.

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Kandovan Village is located 60 kilometers southwest of Tabriz in Sahand Rural District, in the Central District of Osku County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. It is popular for its magnificent rocky architecture which is the result of volcanic activities and hand-carved structures. The village was registered in Iran’s National Heritage, and it has a worldwide reputation and is the only rocky village in the world which is still inhabited. There are two other cliff villages which are not inhabited with similar structures in the world; Cappadocia in Turkey and Dakota in America.

Etymology

It’s known as Kandovan because the rocky houses in this village look like hives. (Also Kand means village in Turkish)

It has been said in the history of Kandovan that the first group to settle in the region were residents of a village called Hilevar, 2 km away from Kandovan. They migrated to this area escaping from Mongols and started to carve the Karans to build themselves a safe refuge.

Architecture

The history of this wonderful village gets backs to 6000 years ago.  Some researches of archeology have estimated its age up to 7000 years old.

Village architecture is one of its wonders. Kandovan is a rocky village and the thickness of walls is very thin and about 2 meters. The rock acts as an energy efficient material, keeping the house cool during summer and warm during winter. The heights of these rocks are about 40 meters.

There are sharp pyramidal cliffs with the holes on their irregular surfaces in this village which have been created due to volcano eruption in the region of the Sahand Mountain Range. The cliffs have shaped hive cells which are also known as Karan. Generally, Most of these Karans has two floors and in some cases, three and even four floors that they are not related to each other from the inside.

The inhabitants carved every room of the cliff houses like kitchens, halls, and even pens out of stone to make windows for the rooms and later, to decorate them with colorful glasses.

Village

Since the Kandovan is located on the slopes of the Sahand Mountains, it has a great climate and there are plenty of greenery and landscapes around it. The fruitful plains of the region provide nomads with a possibility to breed honey bees and grow medicinal herbs, both sources of income for the locals. The people of this village are more farmers and ranchers.

It is the only rocky village in the world which is still inhabited and currently, 117 families live in the village. The village has a mosque, public bath, school, a mill, souvenir shops, buffet and restaurant.

Souvenir

The most famous souvenir of Kandovan is Honey. Apricots and sour cherries, dried fruit, rugs and jajim are other souvenirs of Kandovan.

Mineral water springs of Kandovan are also well-known and basically used for treatment of kidney disease.

Best Season to Visit

The best season to visit Kandovan is spring and summer. It is not a favorite destination in autumn and winters since it gets so cold. The minimum temperature of Kandovan is 13° C and the maximum 25° C in summer. Visiting this village will take 2 hours up to one day.

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