TEHRAN – Winners in various categories were honored during the 6th Arbaeen International Awards on Monday at the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) in Tehran. 

The awards ceremony was attended by a number of Iranian officials, including Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi, ICRO director Abuzar Ebrahimi-Torkaman and National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) director Ashraf Borujerdi.

Works by artists from 9 different countries including Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, England, Pakistan and Canada competed in the categories of film, photo, travelogue and cyberspace. 

The organizers have established the awards to promote artistic productions on the Arbaeen gathering, which is held by Shia Muslims in Iraq every year.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians and Shia Muslims from other countries embark on a journey to the Iraqi city of Karbala to observe the day of Arbaeen at the holy shrines of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Imam of the Shia, and his brother, Hazrat Abbas (AS).   
    
Arbaeen, marks the end of the 40-day mourning period following the martyrdom of the Imam and his loyal companions on Ashura.

Hassan al-Najjar from Iraq took first place in the photo category and second prize was given to Osama Obeid from Lebanon, and Ali Aabak from Iran stood in third place. 

In the film category, Seyyed Vahid Oliai from Canada won first prize, Mohammad Haji-Maqsudi from Iran received second award and Kazem Yusefi from Afghanistan took third prize. 

In the professional film section, Masud Heidari from Iran, Hesam Hadi from Iraq and Mohammad-Mehdi Nemati from Iran won the prizes in the first, second and third places respectively.

Zainab Kobra Azad from Pakistan took first place in the travelogue category, while Abdallah Bah from Guinea and Fatemeh Ehsani from Afghanistan were the winners of second and third prizes.

First prize in the cyberspace category went to Nouri Sardar from England and Amina Inloes from the U.S., and Zawar Syed Tawtheeq Haider from Pakistan won second and third prizes respectively.

The ceremony continued with the unveiling of a postage stamp to remember the sixth edition of the event, while the books of the previous five editions were also introduced at the ceremony.

The officials next visited an exhibition of top selected works from all six editions of the Arbaeen awards on the margins of the program.

Photo: A winner accepts his award from NLAI director Ashraf Borujerdi at the 6th Arbaeen International Awards at the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization in Tehran on December 28, 2020. (IQNA/Tahereh Babai) 

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