MASHHAD - The First International Khorsheed (Sun) Media Festival was held at the Pardisan Hotel in the shrine city of Mashhad on Saturday with the presence of the president's wife Jamileh Alamolhoda, other dignitaries, and female journalists from nearly 40 countries. 

With the slogan of "Women Enlighten", the festival was planned in memory of Shireen Abu Akleh, the martyr of enlightenment. 

Women's issues, including the role of women in social justice, family, women, and resistance media, the proper role model by women, and the role of the media in normalizing violence against women were among the topics that were discussed at the event. 

Yousof Esmaeilzadeh, executive secretary of the festival, told reporters that 100 active media women from 40 countries participated at the festival. 

The festival was arranged by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the office of the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, and the Mashhad Municipality. 

Shireen Abu Akleh (April 3, 1971 - May 11, 2022) was a prominent Palestinian journalist, who worked at the Qatari international news television network Al Jazeera for 25 years. She was one of the vigorous journalists in the Middle East, who covered news stories concerning Palestinian issues. 

On May 11, 2022, she was targeted by Israeli forces and lost her life due to a fatal gunshot wound to the head, while she was covering the reports of the Israeli army's raid into the city of Jenin in the West Bank. 

Speaking at the event, Ensieh Khazali, the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, said, “Women were able to present a third model to the world, both in family management and in the political and social spheres, and they stood up to the plots of imperialism, which tried to achieve its ominous goals under the guise of ‘women, life, and freedom’. Iranian media women also stood up and acted like Abu Akleh.” 

Khazali added, “We media women should form networks to show the identity and real demands of women to the world, and we can.” 

Mohammad Mahdi Esmaeili, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, also addressed the ceremony.

The closing ceremony was held late on Saturday at Ferdowsi University in Mashhad. 

Yaqub-Ali Nazari, the governor of Khorasan Razavi, said in a speech at the ceremony that “Mashhad constitutes 10% of the country's population and every year 30 million pilgrims visit the city, and we have 5 to 6 million foreign pilgrims.” 

He said, “This province also hosts one million refugees from Afghanistan. 51% of students are women 29% of them are faculty members.” 

The governor added, “The literacy rate of women is more than 86% and females account for 13% of managers in the rural areas.”

The participants also signed the guest book. The ceremony is expected to be held every two years in Mashhad.