Bloomberg | Pico Iyer: Reading and writing about Iran could not prepare Pico Iyer for the warm, modern society that greeted him. Our burly driver in the baseball cap kept his eyes on the roadas my unfailingly suave guide, Ali, chatted away. Wed barely left the holy metropolis of Mashhad, in northeastern Iran,...

Al-Monitor | Sarbas Nazari: Located in Iran's Kurdistan province, 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Iraqi border, Hawraman is an ancient village with an unfathomable uniqueness. Houses have been built on rugged mountains, where a family's rooftop serves as the upper neighbor's yard, making the entire village resemble a gigantic stairway from afar. Sitting ...

IRNA - The 1750-year-old University of Jundishapur is a sign of Iran's cultural honor and prestige in the world and this great cultural capacity should be introduced to the world, the Chancellor of this Industrial University Mohammad-Reza Assari emphasized. In an interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Assari said on Sunday, '1750 ...

Philippine Tatler - Have you ever wondered about the appeal of travelling to Iran? Anthony Bourdains impression resonates with many who have set foot in the country: The Iran you see from the inside, once you walk the streets of Tehran, once you meet Iranians, is a very different place than the Iran you know from the news. Read ahead for the best 10 ...

IFP - Holding wedding ceremonies in the traditional style has been around for thousands of years in Lorestan Province, west of Iran. Although these ceremonies have been forgotten over time and replaced with fashionable parties, there are still couples who want to hold their wedding ceremony in the way their predecessors did. What follows ...

IFP - People in Hormozgan province in southern Iran have for centuries been practicing special ceremonies and rituals in their marriages and weddings. In Hormozgan, bringing the bridal dress from the grooms house to the brides house is performed in a special ceremony called Saakht. They play musical instruments and sing songs while performing ...

IFP - Kurdish people of Irans Khorasan, who are known as Kurmanji Kurds, have managed to preserve their centuries-old wedding customs, and are still practicing many of them in their ceremonies. Kurmanji nomads in North Khorasan province, north-eastern Iran, are highly dependent on women who carry out a major share of daily activities. Therefore,...

The Wall Street Journal | Dorothy Rabinowitz: This two-part Frontline documentary is based on the Iran travels of Thomas Erdbrink, longtime Tehran bureau chief for the New York Times, who married an Iranian woman and now considers himself, as he suggests in his narrative, unlikely to want to live anywhere else any time soon. We are quickly ...

IFP- Seyyed Mohammad Beheshti, a senior cultural figure, says Iranians will constitute the worlds largest cultural lobby in the next decade. Beheshti, the head of the Iranian Research Centre for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, has predicted that Iranians will be the worlds largest lobby within the next one or two decades. They will not need ...

IFP- Anthony Bourdain, the American celebrity chef whose tragic death was announced Friday, is admired by Iranians not only for his popular TV show and great talent, but also for the positive image on Iran he conveyed to the rest of the world. The famed cook, writer and host of the CNNs award-winning series Parts Unknown killed himself Friday ...

IRNA - Iran's mosaic culture enjoys unique features and capabilities, said a Greek cultural figure. IRNA reporter Ali Asadi interviewed the representative of the Greek Hellenic Foundation for Culture to Iran Katerina Balamoti to learn more about tourism and cultural cooperation between Iran and Greece. Excerpts from the interview follow: Q:...

IFP- Every year, a few days before the beginning of the New Persian Year, traditional singers known as Nowruz Khans herald the arrival of spring in the villages of northern Iran by singing and playing their instruments. The Nowruz Khans singers performing traditional songs heralding the emergence of the new season and Nowruz have come to the village ...

IRNA - The 21 of March in the Gregorian calendar which coincides with the first day of Farvardin in the Iranian calendar is celebrated by over 187 million people in 11 countries across the world as Nowruz as a national holiday. The countries that have inscribed Nowruz in their national calendar include: Iran, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan,...

Press TV- Nowruz (New Day), the name of the Iranian New Year, is a traditional festival that marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. A 3,000-year-old Iranian tradition for people of all faiths, Nowruz is celebrated by the worlds Persian-speaking community and other ethno-linguistic groups across Western Asia, Central Asia, the ...

Press TV | Arghavan Shamsara: Termeh, as the most sumptuous Iranian handwoven cloth, has for centuries manifested the artistic essence of the Iranian culture in clothing and dcor. The handicraft, which is woven with silk and wool and sometimes with gold and silver, is mainly used for decorative purposes in important ceremonies and in making various ...

Press TV | Arghavan Shamsara: Persian carpet has been considered as a sublime embodiment of timeless beauty and elegance over thousands of years in human history and it has constantly evolved into a more elegant artistic creation throughout its existence. The artistic creation reached its zenith during the rule of Safavid Dynasty (15011736) when ...

FNA I Ahmad Pirooz: Iranians are preparing to celebrate Shab-e Yalda a night of red and poetry, On Yalda Night that falls on this coming to night, families traditionally hold a get-together in the houses of their elders in what will be the longest night of the year.  

Tasnim - Yalda is one of the most celebrated traditional events in Iran which marks the longest night of the year. Every year, on Dec. 21, Iranians celebrate the arrival of winter, the renewal of the sun and the victory of light over darkness on Yalda Night. Yalda is only about a minute longer that the other nights of autumn. But it is celebrated ...

IFP- Irans new culture minister says the countrys artworks and cultural products are the most well-known Iranian elements across the globe. Speaking in his induction ceremony on Saturday, Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi weighed in on the status of the Iranian culture and art in the world. The Iranian art can ...

Stuff.co.nz | Sean Nugent : Iran is not the first place on most people's list of travel destinations. The Middle-Eastern nation has been virtually cut off from the majority of the Western world since the Islamic revolution that overthrew the Shah in 1979. It is often aligned with neighbouring nations struggling with war, terrorism, anti-US sentiments ...