In the last 20 years (1993-2013), Iran has almost always achieved a better ranking in the international math olympiads than the EU3.
Iran has been all this time in the Top 20.
Iran’s East and West Azerbaijan Provinces are host to the oldest churches in Iran. Among the most significant are the Tatavous Vank ( St. Tatavous Cathedral), which is also called the Ghara Kelissa (the black monastery). This is located at the Siahcheshmeh (Ghara-Eini) border area south of Makou.
There is also the Saint Stepanous Monastery, which stands 24 kilometers south of East Azarbaijan’s Jolfa town. The general structure mostly resembles Armenian and Georgian architecture and the inside of the building is adorned with beautiful paintings by Honatanian, a renowned Armenian artist. Hayk Ajimian, an Armenian scholar and historian, recorded that the church was originally built in the ninth century AD, but repeated earthquakes completely eroded the previous structure. The church was rebuilt during the rule of Shah Abbas the Second.
Source: Payvand News of Iran
Cumrun Vafa (born 1960 in Tehran) is an Iranian-American leading string theorist from Harvard University where he started as a Harvard Junior Fellow. He is a recipient of the 2008 Dirac Medal.
He graduated from Alborz High School and went to the US in 1977. He got his undergraduate degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a double major in physics and mathematics. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1985 under the supervision of Edward Witten. He then became a junior fellow at Harvard, where he later got a junior faculty position. In 1989 he was offered a senior faculty position, and he has been there ever since. Currently, he is the Donner Professor of Science at Harvard University. Ref:Wikipedia
The Vank Cathedral was one of the first churches to be established in Isfahan by Armenian immigrants settled by Shah Abbas I after the Ottoman War of 1603-05.
Church construction is believed to have begun in 1606, and completed with major alterations to design between 1655 and 1664 under the supervision of Archbishop David.
Source: payvand.com
Nasrin Sotoudeh (also spelled Sotoodeh, Persian: نسرین ستوده) is a human rights lawyer in Iran. She has represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians following the disputed June 2009 Iranian presidential elections as well as prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors.[1] Her clients have included journalist Isa Saharkhiz, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, and Heshmat Tabarzadi, the head of the banned opposition group Democratic Front of Iran.[2]
Sotoudeh was arrested in September 2010 on charges of spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security[1] and was imprisoned in solitary confinement in Evin Prison.[3] In January 2011, Iranian authorities sentenced Sotoudeh to 11 years in prison.
…
Prior to her arrest, Sotoudeh represented activists and journalists such as Isa Saharkhiz, Heshmat Tabarzadi, Nahid Keshavarz, Parvin Ardalan, Omid Memarian…
View original post 170 more words
Shirin Ebadi (Persian: شيرين عبادى Širin Ebādi; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranianlawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women’s, children’s, and refugee rights. She was the first ever Iranian to receive the prize.
…
She was admitted to the law department of the University of Tehran in 1965 and in 1969, upon graduation, passed the qualification exams to become a judge. After a six-month internship period, she officially became a judge in March 1969. She continued her studies in University of Tehran in the meantime to pursue a doctorate’s degree in law in 1971. In 1975, she became the first woman president of the Tehran…
View original post 85 more words
It is a significant step which local experts believe that can inspire Baluchi women to work for more rights and break boundaries that have been created by both the state and society.
Samiyeh Balochzehi, 26, who was elected mayor by the Kalat city council, is an engineer and has a master’s degree in natural resources management from the Islamic Azad University Science and Research Branch in Tehran. […]
Balochzehi is a widow, her sister is on the city council and she comes from a wealthy and influential family. […]
The province of Sistan-Baluchistan is situated in southeastern Iran and at 187,502 square kilometers [72,395 square miles, roughly the size of Washington state] is Iran’s largest province. From the north of the province to the city of Zabol (famous ancient city) is the region of Sistan, whose population is mostly Persian-speaking and Shiite. […]
This province has historically suffered from political repression, economic deprivation, and has witnessed violence through terrorism from extremist Sunni groups and drug smuggling. […]
Read more: AL-MONITOR | Baluch Sunni woman elected mayor is first for Iran
A number of Christian denominations still live in Iran today and include Assyrians, Armenians, Catholics, Protestants and Evangelical Christians. Although a minority religious group in Iran, Christians of Iran are free to practice their religion and perform their religious rituals. (see article)
Source: Payvand News of Iran
Ehsan Ghaem-Maghami (born 11 January 1982) is a chess grandmaster (2000) from Iran. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2583. He is a bachelor of law and now is studying sports management at the University of Tehran.
In 2004, he came first in the Kish GM Tournament. In 2009, he won a 20-game combined match (four classical, four rapid and twelve blitz games) against Anatoly Karpov, played with a special rule: play to mate or dead draw.
The new Guinness record holder for simultaneous chess games (614 opponents and has achieved 97.5% score points) which was held in Tehran on 10th FEB 2011.
He was the most successful chess player in 2004 in regard to increasing the most rating points and playing the most number of games and tournaments, which is registered by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
Source: Wikipedia | Ehsan Ghaem-Maghami
Professor Parvaneh Vosough was born in 1935 in Tafresh, central Iran. She received her MD in general medicine in 1963 in Tehran University of Medical Science. She completed her specialty and sub-specialty in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Illinois Universities, and she attended Washington University for her graduate course. In 1971 she returned to Iran and practiced her profession in Ali Asghar Hospital in Tehran.
Her colleagues say that many times, she had been proposed residence of US and European countries for research and lucrative income, but that she had chosen providing free service to her country’s cancer-suffering children.
In the course of her medical services, Professor Vosough treated many cancer-suffering children around the world, giving them health, and she had never married. Perhaps for this reason, she was called ‘Iran’s Mother Theresa’ by some people.
Source: Payvand News | Prof. Parvaneh Vosough, angel of Iran’s Cancer Children, passes away
International arts consultancy Six Pillars announces the UK’s first sound art residency for Iranian artists and musicians.
Five emerging practitioners visit London for the first time from Iran on 9 December: Nasim Khorassani, Sepehr Haghighi, Nemo Ghasemi, Niloufar Em and Heckmat(t).
The two weeks intense preparation and technical workshops peak with the performance of “Iran-UK Sonics” at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Friday 13 December.
Fari Bradley of Six Pillars who is running this visionary project with Southbank Centre, LCC and Resonance104.4FM “After a public call out and in-depth selection process, we’ve a hugely varied group coming to exchange ideas with the UK. Our aim is to dialogue with Iran about experimental music, and make a difference in terms of frequently problematic cultural perceptions.
Sources:
– http://sixpillars.org/IranUK/
– http://www.payvand.com/news/13/dec/1000.html
The following figure shows Iran’s ranking (the lower the better) at the International Math Olympiad compared to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey and Israel over the last 20 years. Over this period Iran has been in the top 20 of the world.
The Iranian cartoonist Behruz Firuzi has won the first in the category satirical drawing at the 17th edition of the international competition Fax for Peace, Fax for Tolerance in Spilimbergo, Italy.
Other Iranian cartoonists Sohrab Kheiri and Parvin Mohammadi received honorable mention at the competition.
Peace, tolerance, fighting against any form of racism and the defense of human rights are the themes of the competition.
Sources:
– Gallery: http://www.faxforpeace.eu/?page_id=786
– http://www.payvand.com/news/13/dec/1009.html
Aravane Rezaï is a professional Iranian–French tennis player.
She has defeated many top players on the WTA circuit, such as Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina, Francesca Schiavone, Caroline Wozniacki, Marion Bartoli, Flavia Pennetta, Jelena Janković and Ai Sugiyama. Her career high rank was No. 15, achieved on October 11, 2010.
Rezaï competed for Iran at the Women’s Islamic Games, winning gold in 2001 and 2005.
Rezaï is now based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Read more at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aravane_Reza%C3%AF
Played for Iran in the Women’s Asian Team Chess Championships of 1995, 2003, 2005 and 2008.
FIDE rating: 2250
Peak rating: 2274
Asian Indoor Games results for Shadi Paridar:
Silver – 2007 Macau – Individual rapid
Bronze – 2007 Macau – Team rapid
Bronze – 2009 Quang Ninh – Team blitz
Shadi Paridar in wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadi_Paridar
Noora Naraghi was born in Teheran on May 30th 1988. She is the first women’s Iran motocross champion. In 2009, she won Iran’s first-ever Female Motocross Championship.
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noora_Naraghi
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/6857478/Irans-female-motocross-champion-gets-uphill-ride.html
A PhD student from Tehran, she has been nicknamed “a little Schumacher” after the German Formula One champion. She has been given the title of Iran’s best female racing driver. The story is featured in a BBC TV documentary called “Girl Racer”.
The documentary can be viewed here:
She earned international fame by fending off a host of male competitors to become Iran’s national rally champion in 2005.
More infos:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laleh_Seddigh
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/14/international/middleeast/14seddigh.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
The best posts on Iranian women:
https://theotheriran.com/tag/women/
The university entrance exam, known as the konkour, is a standardized test used as one of the means to gain admission to higher education in Iran.
Of the 36 with the highest scores, 19 are females and 17 are males. Most of them are from Tehran.
1,286,813 students took this year’s university entrance exam, 773,653 of whom (about 60%) were females and 513,160 were males.
The first world grass skiing competitions for youth (boys and girls) was held in Dizin slopes north of Tehran, Iran. Below are some pictures from the opening ceremony and first competition day:
To see more photos, please follow these links:
– Payvand News of Iran | Photos: Opening Ceremonies of Grass Ski Competitions in Dizin, Iran
– Payvand News of Iran | Photos: 2012 Grass Skiing World Cup in Dizin, Iran
– Iran Ski Federation | Special images from World Cup skiing grass
Iran overpowered Japan in straight sets (25-17, 25-18, 25-14) in the final match of the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup on Sunday at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
Source:
http://www.payvand.com/news/13/nov/1195.html
FIVB Volleyball World Grand Champions Cup
The Iranians beat the two-time defending Intercontinental Cup champion Russia 4-3 in the final match of the tourney.
Read the complete article:
http://www.payvand.com/news/13/nov/1194.html
Atousa Pourkashiyan, Iranian chess Woman Grandmaster
Atousa Pourkashiyan (Persian: آتوسا پور کاشیان, born 16 May 1988) is an Iranian chess Woman Grandmaster.
In April 2010 she won Women’s Asian Chess Championship in Subic Bay.
FIDE rating: 2321
Peak rating: 2374 (May 2011)
Other successes:
Asian Games 2006: Bronze
Asian Indoor Games 2009: Bronze
Atousa Pourkashiyan in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atousa_Pourkashiyan
Sepideh Mahabadi received 2011 her B.Sc. in Computer Engineering from the Sharif University of Technology, Iran. That year she moved to the United States to continue her studies. In 2013 she received her M.Sc. and in 2017 her PhD from the MIT.
When she was 18 years old she made history at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) after receiving a gold medal. She was the only female contestant to win a gold medal that year and the second woman to win a gold medal in the history of the Olympiad.
The IOI is one of the most prominent computer science competitions in the world. In 2007 the event was held in Croatia and gathered nearly 300 top students from 75 countries. Sina Sadeghian, Saeed Reza Sedighin, and Hesamodin Akhlaghpor, the other members of Iran’s team, won three silver medals.
Sepideh Mahabadi is a postdoctoral research scientist with an appointment at the Simons Collaboration on Algorithms and Geometry based at Columbia University.
More articles on Iranian successes in science competitions
Sources: Press TV, MIT, Simons Foundation, stats.ioiinformatics.org (IOI 2007)
Mahmud Hesabi (February 23, 1903-September 3, 1992) was a prominent Iranian scientist, researcher and distinguished professor of the University of Tehran.
[…]
At the early age of seventeen he obtained his Bachelor’s in Arts and Sciences from the American University of Beirut. Later he obtained his B.A. in civil engineering while working as a draftsman. After a short period of time he obtained a B.A. in mathematics and astronomy.
[…]
In 1947, he published his classic papers on “continuous particles”. Then he proposed his model of “infinitely extended particles” in 1957. The medal of the commandeur de la Légion d’honneur, France’s greatest scientific medal, was awarded to him for his achievements.
[…]
Mahmud Hesabi was the only Iranian student of Albert Einstein and during his years of scientific research he had meetings with well-known scientists such as Erwin Schrodinger, Max Born, Enrico Fermi, Paul Dirac, Aage Niels Bohr, and scholars such as Bertrand Russell and André Gide.
Mahmud Hesabi
Read the complete article:
http://www.payvand.com/news/07/sep/1057.html
Hossein Hassan-zadeh, a chemistry engineering student at Poly Technique University of Orumiyeh, northwestern Iran, said the competition was involved of the two sections of poster and performance, and the Iranian team was granted the prize considering its points in the two sections.
The team ranked 3rd in the previous round of competitions held in Singapore.
In Chem-E-Car Competition, the chemistry and chemistry engineering students are competing in building cars whose motive force is supplied by a chemical reaction.
The cars used in the matches should be self-controlled and not to start moving through pushing or tuning. Using dry battery or other batteries, mechanical or chemical braking systems, mechanical or electronic timing tools to end the chemical reaction is banned.
Filmmakers from 40 countries have participated in the festival and 200 movies are scheduled to go on screen at Farshchian, Qods, Sahel, Sepahan, Honar and several other theaters in Isfahan during the event.
A jury composed of 60 children helped the main jury for the national competition section.
The photos can be viewed here:
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/oct/1090.html
While Iran is officially designated the “Islamic Republic,” among its more than 66 million people is a small but important Christian minority.
Check out the photos showing Tehran’s Christian residents doing their shopping for the holiday season: http://www.payvand.com/news/12/dec/1222.html
Iranian neurologist has won the Leibniz Ring Prize in Germany. The prize is given to Personalities who have made contributions to human development.
[…]
Prof. Samii is renowned worldwide for his life trajectory and specially for his work in the Project Africa 100. Investing in educating African neuroscientists in order to give these physicians incentives to stay in their home countries. This long lasting bridge building is based on knowledge transfer between professionals on different continents. Prof. Samii has also made partnerships with neurologists in Iran.
[…]
During his speech, Prof. Samii touched upon the importance of investing in training programs for African medical staff, especially in the field of neurosciences. He said the continent needs the investment for sustainable development and growth.
Read the complete article:
http://www.payvand.com/news/13/nov/1131.html
An Iranian doctor from Mashad Medical Science University received the award of the greatest world woman inventor in Geneva International Festival for Inventions in year 2013.
Dr. Zahra Alizadeh Thani, who is a specialist in radiology of heart and coroners, also received gold medal and special award of 41st Geneva Festival in addition to her award as the world inventor.
Dr. Alizadeh Thani has invented a device to determine level of tightness of heart coroners.
The device also makes it possible to determine if the patient needs angioplasty.
Source:
http://www.newsweek.com/surprising-success-irans-universities-87853
In 2003, administrators at Stanford University’s Electrical Engineering Department were startled when a group of foreign students aced the notoriously difficult Ph.D. entrance exam, getting some of the highest scores ever. The surprising thing, say Stanford administrators, is that the majority came from one country and one school: Sharif University of Science and Technology in Iran.
Stanford has become a favorite destination of Sharif grads. Bruce A. Wooley, a former chair of the Electrical Engineering Department, has said that’s because Sharif now has one of the best undergraduate electrical-engineering programs in the world. That’s no small praise given its competition: MIT, Caltech and Stanford in the United States, Tsinghua in China and Cambridge in Britain.
Iranian students from Sharif and other top schools, such as the University of Tehran and the Isfahan University of Technology, have also become major players in the international Science Olympics, taking home trophies in physics, mathematics, chemistry and robotics. As a testament to this newfound success, the Iranian city of Isfahan recently hosted the International Physics Olympiad–an honor no other Middle Eastern country has enjoyed.
[…]
Iranian students are developing an international reputation as science superstars. Stanford’s administrators aren’t the only ones to notice. Universities across Canada and Australia, where visa restrictions are lower, report a big boom in the Iranian recruits; Canada has seen its total number of Iranian students grow 240 percent since 1985, while Australian press reports point to a fivefold increase over the past five years, to nearly 1,500.
[…]
Part of the explanation, says Mohammad Mansouri, a Sharif grad (’97) who’s now a professor in New York, lies in the tendency of Iranian parents to push their kids into medicine or engineering as opposed to other fields, like law.
[…]
Several Sharif alumni point to one other powerful motivator. “When you live in Iran and you see all the frustrations of daily life, you dream of leaving the country, and your books and studies become a ticket to a better life,” says one who asked not to be identified. “It becomes more than just studying,” he says. “It becomes an obsession, where you wake up at 4 a.m. just to get in a few more hours before class.”
Iran’s success, in other words, is also the country’s tragedy: students want nothing more than to get away the moment they graduate. That’s a boon for foreign universities and tech firms but a serious source of brain drain for the Islamic Republic.
This article also appeared in:
http://newamerica.net/node/8873
Professor Farhad Ardalan received the APS fellowship award from Jon Clark the president of the International Forum of American Physical Society. For pioneering work in applications of non-commutative geometry in string theory and gauge theories, and for promoting the participation of Iranian scientists in CERN and Middle-East programs.
[…]
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research.
[…]
Founded in 1954, the CERN Laboratory sits astride the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva. It was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and now has 20 Member States.
Read the complete article here:
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/dec/1271.html
The Japanese squad defeated the Iranians 2-1 on Friday at the Songdo Global University Campus.
The Iranian women’s futsal team advanced to the final of the 2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games by defeating Indonesia 4-0. Fereshteh Karimi scored two goals for Iran and Nasimeh Sadat Gholami and Niloufar Ardalan also found the back of the net in the semifinal match.
Iranian team members lift their captain, Leila Eqbali, in the air. Eqbali is quitting the games after 9 years
More photos: Payvand News of Iran
The national Iranian men’s futsal team has beaten Japan, winning the gold medal at the 2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in South Korea.
Iranians trounced the Japanese 5-2 at the Songdo Global University Campus in South Korea’s northwestern city of Incheon on Saturday and clinched the gold medal.
Members of the Iranian men’s futsal team
More pictures:
http://www.payvand.com/news/13/jul/1050.html
Prominent Iranian mathematician Professor Abolghassem Ghaffari passed away on the night of Tuesday November 5, 2013, at the age of 106.
Abolghassem Ghafari was born in Tehran in 1906, studied at Darolfonoon School and was part of the first group of Iranian students sent to study in France. He pursued his masters in mathematics at France’s Nancy University and obtained his PhD in mathematics from Sorbonne with a PhD thesis entitled “Brownian Motion from the Perspective of Advanced Mathematics”, which led to his meeting with Albert Einstein. Brownian motion was also the topic of one of Einstein’s five articles in 1905.
In addition to teaching at the Universities of Tehran, Princeton, Harvard and Washington, Ghaffari was the first Iranian to find his way into NASA and the only foreign national involved in the orbital calculations of the Apollo 11 project at NASA’s Goddard Space Centre. He even received the NASA…
View original post 194 more words
Iran’s Kaleh wrapped up the title of the 2013 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship with a win over Al-Rayyan on Monday.
[…]
Kaleh stayed unbeaten through the competitions. The team had finished in second place in the previous edition.
See more pictures:
http://www.payvand.com/news/13/apr/1207.html
Iran made history by winning the Asian beach soccer championship for the first time.
Iran came back from a 6-3 deficit to secure a 6-6 draw against Japan in regulation time of the final of the Asian qualifiers for the 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. There were no goals in the two 3-minute extra periods but the Persians finally defeated the defending Asian champions 5-4 on penalties at Doha’s Katara Beach.
Read the complete article here:
http://www.payvand.com/news/13/jan/1244.html
Maryam Tousi (born 5 December 1988 in Tehran) is an Iranian sprint athlete. She is the Iranian record holder in 100 m, 200 m, 400 m and 4×400 m relay. She studied Physical Education at University of Tehran.
Medal record
400m – 2014 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Hangzhou, China400m – 2012 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Hangzhou, China
4 x 400m relay – 2016 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar
4 x 400m relay – 2010 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Tehran, Iran 60m – 2014 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Hangzhou, China
Sources: Payvand News of Iran, Wikipedia | Maryam Tousi, ISNA, Facebook | Maryam Toosi (official page), IAAF | Athlete profile (personal best)
Atieh Kazemi Mojarad is among the recipients of UNESCO’s Young Scientist Award. She won the award for her research in “sustainable development of Biosphere Reserves through the promotion of key ecosystem services.”. Kazemi Mojarad has received her Masters degrees in Ecology from Azad University and in Environmental Studies from Shahid Beheshti University.
Sources: UNESCO, Payvand News of Iran
The Iranian House of Cinema (IHC) in Tehran reopened Thursday September 12, Iran’s National Cinema Day, after about a two-year forced shutdown ordered by the Ahmadinejad’s Culture Minister. The cheerful ceremony, held at the hall of the IHC in the morning, was attended by groups of jubilant cineastes.
Check the photos at:
http://www.payvand.com/news/13/sep/1080.html
“Tehran has 11 functioning synagogues, many of them with Hebrew schools. It has two kosher restaurants, and a Jewish hospital, an old-age home and a cemetery. There is a Jewish representative in the Iranian parliament.”
http://www.sephardicstudies.org/iran.html
“There are about 100 synagogues in Iran of which about 26 are in Tehran.”
http://www.iranjewish.com/Essay_E/Essay_e1.htm
“Despite the offence Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has caused to Jews around the world, his office recently donated money for Tehran’s Jewish hospital.
It is one of only four Jewish charity hospitals worldwide and is funded with money from the Jewish diaspora – something remarkable in Iran where even local aid organisations have difficulty receiving funds from abroad for fear of being accused of being foreign agents.
Most of the patients and staff are Muslim these days, but director Ciamak Morsathegh is Jewish.
“Anti-Semitism is not an eastern phenomenon, it’s not an Islamic or Iranian phenomenon – anti-Semitism is a European phenomenon,” he says, arguing that Jews in Iran even in their worst days never suffered as much as they did in Europe.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5367892.stm
[…] Fortunately, UNHCR and MAHAK have worked for more than 10 years in a fruitful collaboration to provide assistance to cancer-stricken refugee children. MAHAK is a non-profit, non-political, and non-governmental charity focused on treating children with cancer. It uses the most up-to-date diagnostic, treatment and prevention methods, with both outpatient and in-patient services. It provides chemotherapy, medication, lab tests, radiation therapy, CT scan, transportation and family counseling – all without regard to religion, race or nationality of patients. MAHAK is supported by fundraising and humanitarian assistance in the form of money, goods, services and technical expertise. Under the joint UNHCR-MAHAK project for 2013, a total of 76 Afghan and Iraqi refugee children under the age of 15 who suffer from cancer will be provided with medical treatment. Under this project, the accompanying parent is also provided with counseling, accommodation and food when needed because they reside outside Tehran and face difficult economic conditions. Iran has generously hosted the second largest refugee population in the world for over three decades — currently more than 880,000 refugees, some 40,000 from Iraq and the rest from Afghanistan. The government of Iran has always provided its refugees with access to the main areas of education, livelihood and health, some of which can be life-saving. MAHAK takes every opportunity to cheer up the children. Javad Nekoonam, a famous Iranian football player, recently joined them for a short game. The staff of MAHAK convey their own hope, enthusiasm and energy to the children. Some are volunteers, families of patients who have themselves survived cancer, and strong believers in what can be achieved. Many refugee families had stories like that of Ali, all grateful for the economic and psychological help the UNHCR-MAHAK agreement has brought to their lives. There were children from 2- to 17-years-old struggling with leukemia, Hodgkin’s disease, cancerous tumors and undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy. About Mahak: About two decades ago a mother who had experienced having a child with cancer and had witnessed first hand the difficulties faced by her child, pledged to set up a center that would act as a refuge for children and their families in a similar situation. With the assistance of the same friends and relatives who had helped her through her own ordeal, a board of trustees was selected and MAHAK Society to Support Children suffering from Cancer was set up as a non profit, non-governmental organization and was registered under number 6567 in 1991. MAHAK has been active from that day on in helping children with cancer and their families. Sources: http://www.unhcr.org/520b65139.html http://www.payvand.com/news/13/aug/1133.html
Read the complete article here:
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/31/sport/football/iran-2014-world-cup-football/
Some excerpts:
[…]
“When we first arrived, we didn’t know how to behave and how to react,” he said.
During his first few months Gaspar didn’t socialize much and rarely left his apartment, except for trips to football practice.
But Gaspar says he steadily started feeling comfortable.
He says he learned his impressions of Iran, created mostly by the media, didn’t quite match reality.
[…]
“When you listen to the news and you read the news, you see things. Sometimes during commercials I step off my couch and look out of the balcony and it’s not what I am seeing, it’s not what I am reading, it’s not what I am hearing.”
Gaspar says what he has observed during his stay in Iran is a nation full of generous people who love their country, their food and their football team.
[…]
But the highlight of Gaspar’s Iranian adventure came on the night of June 18, when Iran’s national football team recorded a 1-0 win over South Korea to qualify for the World Cup for only the fourth time.
The win sparked frenzied celebrations on the field and in the streets of Tehran.
“There were a lot of tears, a lot of hugging. You can’t describe it.”
[…]
“If I would’ve listened to the experts, and my friends, and family, I would have never been here in Iran. It’s been part of my life for three years and the memories will last a lifetime.”
The 2013 Wushu World Championship was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Iran was second in the medal count, winning a total of ten medals: seven gold and three bronze.
The Iranian gold medal winners in women’s sanda (sparring) are:
– Elaheh Mansourian (women’s sanda 52kg)
– Maryam Hashemi (women’s sand 65kg)
– Shahrbanu Mansourian (women’s sanda 75kg)
Hanieh Rajabi won a bronze medal in women’s taolu (changquan, compulsory routine).
The Iranian men won a total of four gold and two bronze medals. In men’s sanda:
– Mohsen Mohammad Seifi: gold medal (65kg category)
– Amir Fazli: gold medal (80kg category)
– Hamid Reza Gholipour: gold medal (85kg category)
Men’s taoulu medal winners:
– Mohsen Ahmadi, Ebrahim Fathi, Navid Makvandi: gold in diulian (group routine)
– Farshad Arabi: bronze in nanquan and bronze in nandao.
The World Wushu Championships (WWC) are held every two years and are organised by the International Wushu Federation (IWUF).
Wushu is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. It was developed in China after 1949, in an effort to standardize the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts. The term wushu is Chinese for “martial arts” (“Wu” = military or martial, “Shu” = art). In contemporary times, wushu has become an international sport through the International Wushu Federation (IWUF), which holds the World Wushu Championships every two years; the first World Championships were held in 1991 in Beijing and won by Yuan Wen Qing. Competitive wushu is composed of two disciplines: taolu (forms) and sanda (sparring).
Sources: Payvand News of Iran, Wikipedia | 2013 World Wushu Championships, Wikipedia | Wushu
The other Iran 