Iranian festival honors artists for anti-imperialist works

TEHRAN,July 4(MNA) -- The Tabas Music and Poetry Festival honored five Iranian cartoonists and cineastes for their anti-imperialist themed works during its closing ceremony on Tuesday. The two-day festival marked the occasion of 24th anniversary of downing of Flight 655 by the U.S. battleship Vincennes. Cineastes Nader Talebzadeh for his TV series “Hour 25” and Hossein Zandbaf for his movie “The Hand of Devil” were honored during the event. The festival also honored Cartoonist Ali Davudi for his book “Shahr-e Farang’s Posters”, Mohammad Hossein Nirumand for his book “Cartoons on Abu Ghraib’s in the hats” and Masud Shojaei Tabatabaei for “Advices to U.S. soldiers”. The families of martyr Mehdi Rajab-beigi, Mohsen Vazvaei, Bijan Gerd, and Nader Mahdavi were also honored during the festival. The U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf on July 3, 1988, killing all 290 passengers and crew members, including 66 children. The name of the festival “Tabas” alludes to the United States’ failed attack on Iran, which was aborted in the desert near Tabas in 1980. The festival was held at the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, dubbed the “Den of Spies” by Imam Khomeini.