TEHRAN-The opening ceremony of the 19th International Resistance Theater Festival was held on Thursday in Kerman, near the resting place of Martyr Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and other honorable martyrs of Kerman.

“The festival reflects the recent developments of the Resistance Front, and we have strived in this edition to bring the recent events of the Resistance Front to the theater stage for the audience,” Mohammad Kazemtabar, the festival's secretary, said.

Presenting a report on the organization of this edition, he stated: “This year, we have sought to adopt a new approach for the festival. Today, as the festival officially begins, it will continue for 45 days. Over this period, audiences will witness 420 performances of 28 plays,” Honaronline reported.

“We have encountered a wealth of topics in the field of street theater as well, and in honor of the great name of Qassem Soleimani, we have designed and executed this section under the title 'Heavenly Commander’,” Kazemtabar added.

In the final part of his remarks, he condemned the crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza and Lebanon and congratulated the noble people of Iran on the recent victories of the Resistance Front.

The 19th edition of the International Resistance Theater Festival has introduced a special award named after Ismail Haniyeh, chief of the political bureau of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas. Titled Martyr of Al-Quds Ismail Haniyeh, the award will be presented in two categories of stage performances and street theater.

The special award will be granted to the best theatrical work addressing the genocide of the oppressed people of Gaza and the Palestinian resistance front.

Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards, who had participated in the swearing-in ceremony of new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran, were assassinated in their residence in Tehran on July 31.

SS/SAB