Museum, featuring objects from 5th BC onwards, inaugurated in northern Iran

TEHRAN – On Thursday, a cultural heritage museum, featuring relics from 5th BC to the contemporary era, was officially inaugurated in the premises of the Ramsar Palace Museum, in Mazandaran province, northern Iran.

Voluminous Taxus baccata spotted in Hyrcanian Forest

TEHRAN – The thickest-ever Taxus baccata L. (European yew) in Iran, which is said to be one of the most voluminous in the world, has been found in the northern Hyrcanian Forest.

49 tourism projects worth $273m to come on stream

TEHRAN – A total of 49 tourism projects, worth 11,500 billion rials (some $273m at the official rate of 42,000 rials) will soon be inaugurated across the country.

Rice planting starts at paddy fields in Mazandaran

Photos depict rice seedlings freshly planted at paddy fields, which are sandwiched between green hills in Zirab county, northern Mazandaran province, May 24, 2020.

Tea harvest begins in northern Iran

Tea harvest season has started in farmlands across the northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran. 

More tourists visit Mazandaran province and spend more

TEHRAN – The number of foreign tourists visiting the northern Iranian province of Mazandaran rose by 81 percent during the past Iranian year 1398 (ended March 19) while spending rose by almost a quarter, according to a senior provincial official.

Coronavirus: grave of Parthian warrior accidentally unearthed in Iran

TEHRAN – An ancient tomb chamber has recently been discovered in a graveyard near Sari, northern Iran, as an excavator was digging down quite deep to entomb a coronavirus victim, IRNA reported on Wednesday.

Police seize Iron-Age relics in northern Iran

TEHRAN - Iranian authorities have recently confiscated tens of relics from a gang of illegal diggers and smugglers in northern Iran. The objects are estimated to date from the Iron Age to the Parthian era, CHTN reported on Wednesday.

Some 35% of COVID-19 patients in Iran recovered so far

TEHRAN - Some 35 percent of people infected with the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, in Iran have so far recovered.

Mazandarani folk singer Abolhassan Khoshru dies at 73

TEHRAN – Mazandarani folk singer Abolhassan Khoshru, who made great efforts to familiarize the younger generation in northern Iran with their native music, died at his home in Qaemshahr on Saturday night after years of suffering from cancer. He was 73.

Iran confirms 43 COVID-19 cases, 8 dead

TEHRAN – The number of people diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, in Iran has increased to 43, of whom eight have so far lost their lives.

Foreign arrivals in Mazandaran surge 38 percent

TEHRAN – The number of foreign visitors arriving in Iran’s northern Mazandaran province surged 38 percent since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21, 2019), compared with the same period last year, provincial deputy tourism chief has said.

22 tourism projects worth $60m inaugurated in Mazandaran

TEHRAN – A total of twenty two tourism projects, worth 2,515 billion rials (some $60 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials) have been inaugurated in northern Mazandaran province during the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21, 2019).

Iran celebrates Hyrcanian Forests becoming World Heritage

TEHRAN – Iran on Thursday held a ceremony to officially celebrate Hyrcanian Forests for being designated as a World Heritage site. Experts say that parts of the woodland date back some 50 million years.

Newly-excavated site yields pre-historic to Islamic-era relics in Iran

TEHRAN – A team of Iranian archaeologists and researchers has recently unearthed pre-historic to Islamic-era relics and fragments of objects from a piece of land, which is speculated to be once a historical cemetery, in Asiabsar village, northern Mazandaran province.

Birdwatching can propel tourism growth in Caspian Sea island

TEHRAN – Ashuradeh, Iran’s sole island in the Caspian Sea, and its surrounding wetlands constitute a rich ecological haven for many migratory birds. However, birdwatching has remained somehow an untapped potential for tourism growth in the coastal region.

President Rouhani invited to Hyrcanian Forest World Heritage celebration

TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani has been invited to attend a ceremony to celebrate registration of Hyrcanian Forest as a UNESCO World Heritage.

New postal stamp marks UNESCO’s designation of Hyrcanian Forest

TEHRAN – Iran has issued a new commemorative postal stamp to mark UNESCO’s designation of Hyrcanian Forest, which form a green arc of jungle, separated from the Caucasus to the west and from semi-desert areas to the east.

Visit ‘Owpart’ where jungle borders desert in Iran

TEHRAN – Amongst wanders of the nature is sudden climate change when you pass Iran’s northern Mazandaran province for Semnan in its south. Here the Owpart region acts like an elevated natural barrier, dividing lush jungles from the harsh, sun-scorched desert lands.

The Great Wall of Gorgan: longest ancient barrier between Central Europe and China

TEHRAN – Stretched for almost 200 kilometers along northern Iran, the ancient Great Wall of Gorgan was constructed from 420s CE to 530s as a northern frontier of the then mighty Persian Empire, which was then ruled under Sassanids.

Millennia-old coins recovered in northern Iran

TEHRAN – Iranian police have recently confiscated some 1,000 coins, reportedly dating back to three thousand years ago, from two antique smugglers in Miandorud, northern Mazandaran province.

Flocks of migratory birds came to winter in northern Iran

TEHRAN – The first group of migratory birds landed in northern Mazandaran province to spend the winter, director for the provincial department of environment (DOE) has said.

Mazandaran winners of cable ski championship

TEHRAN – Mazandaran province claimed the title of the Iran’s Cable Ski Championship on Thursday.

Entrepreneurship: Horse breeding in northern Iran

A small-scale entrepreneur who breeds animals in northern Iran feeds a Turkoman (Turkmen) horse in a modest stable in the village of Komdarreh, Amol county, Mazandaran province, July 15, 2019.

UNESCO is to assess Iran’s Hyrcanian Forest for World Heritage

TEHRAN – On June 30, the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee kicked off in Baku, Azerbaijan, to assess 36 nominees, including Iran’s Hyrcanian Forest, for possible inscription on the World Heritage list.

Court summons men who killed bear cub in Mazandaran 

TEHRAN — Two men who killed a bear cub in Savadkuh, northern province of Mazandaran, by throwing stones at it are summoned by the court, ISNA news agency reported on Monday.

7 Persian fallow deer born in wildlife refuge in northern Iran

TEHRAN — Since the beginning of the current year (March 21), seven Persian fallow deer have been born in Dasht-e Naz wildlife refuge in northern city of Sari, Mazandaran province, Fars news agency reported on Friday.

By Afshin Majlesi

Badab-e Surt: The rolling hills and lush landscape

Sure, trips to Tehran, Isfahan or Shiraz are nice — but sometimes the best vacations come from traveling off the beaten path.

Rice cultivation begins in northern Iran 

Cultivation of rice has begun in the northern province of Mazandaran. 

New tourism route to link inland desert with Caspian Sea

TEHRAN – Iran’s tourism body is considering to create a new tourism route, which will connect an inland desert to the Caspian coasts, CHTN reported on Sunday.