TEHRAN -- Four veteran Iranian actors and directors are to be honored during the 25th Fajr International Theater Festival, which begins in Tehran on January 8.

Farshid Ebrahimian, Davud Rashidi, Tajbakhsh Fanaian, and Siavash Tahmures will receive lifetime achievement awards from the organizers of the event.

This year’s festival will also pay tribute to a number of Iranian theater veterans.

One hundred foreign troupes from Germany, France, Italy, Britain, Poland, Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Turkey, Switzerland, Serbia, Finland, Lebanon, Armenia, Romania, India, and several other countries have expressed interest in participating in the ten-day festival.