Keeping consistency in structural designs is essential to preserving the identity of this village.

Unbridled constructions threaten the historical texture of Oshtebin village in East Azarbaijan province, director of historical places of the provincial Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department said.
Qoreishi told ISNA that given its unique design, Oshtebin enjoys a special status among other provincial villages, but regretted that recent constructions in the rural area have posed a serious threat to its historical identity.
"Given that construction projects are monitored only by one of the personnel of the local cultural heritage department, such attempts cannot be effectively prevented," he noted.
The official mentioned that the village is located on the bank of Aras River and in the heart of mountains, adding it boasts a smart structural design and building style. "The rural houses have strong foundations. The pathways have been cobblestoned and the architectural style is stair-shaped," he said.
The historic monuments in the village are believed to belong to the pre-Safavid era. Oshtebin has already been registered by ICHTO as a cultural heritage site.

Abu Moineddin Nasseri Khosro was one of the most important figures of the 11th century Iran. Known as Nasser Khosro, he is considered as the Real Wisdom of the East. He came from Qubadiyan in Balkh.
He was born in 1003 AD during the time of Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi. He devoted about 30 years of his life to education. He pursued every field of knowledge. He memorized the Qur'an and became an expert in its interpretation. Besides Islamic literature, he also studied the New and the Old Testament, and books of other religions thoroughly. He studied the Al-Magest of Ptolemy, Geometry of Euclid, alchemy, physics, logics, music, mathematics, medicine, astronomy and astrology. He excelled in literature and knew Hebrew and Sanskrit, besides Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Greek. He studied the philosophy of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and the epistles of Kindi, Farabi and Avicenna.
Being born into a government class, he followed the custom of that time and entered the government service of Ghaznavid and Saljuqid administrations.
The change of dynasty took place in 1038 AD when he was 35. Eight years later, he set out on a great journey described in his famous book Safarnameh (Travelogue).
It is generally accepted that Nasser went on to the pilgrimage as an orthodox Muslim and became converted to Ismailism in Egypt. He returned home after some time as an Ismaili missionary of high rank.
For Nasser Khosro obviously the truth was only Islam. It is quite possible that perhaps a change of dynasty, if it upset his career, the frustration of his youthful ambitions, even his probable contacts with Ismailis--all these inspired him to espouse the cause of the Fatimids.
In 1045 AD, being warned by a dream, he was determined to renounce the wine and to undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca. He was about 40 years old at that time. He performed a complete ablution, repaired to the mosque of Jazjanan, where he then happened to have registered a solemn vow of repentance.
Nasser Khosro set out on a great journey with his younger brother Abu-Saeed and an Indian servant. He traveled by the way of Shaburqan to Marv, then proceeded to Neishabour, came by way of Damghan to Semnan. Passing onwards through Qazvin, he reached Tabriz and there he made the acquaintance of the poet Qatran. Then he made his way successively to Van, Akhiat, Bittis, Arzan, Mayfaraqin, Amid, Aleppo, and Ma'arratun Nu'man, where he met great Arabic philosophical poet Abul Ala-af Ma'arri of whose character he speaks in warmest terms. Then he visited Hama, Tripoli, Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, Acre, and Haifa. He spent some time in Syria visiting the tombs of prophets and other holy places, including Beit-ul-Moqaddas and Bethlehem. He made his first pilgrimage to Mecca in 1047 AD. From there, he proceeded by land to Egypt and finally arrived in Cairo in 1047 AD.
In 1052, when he returned to Khorasan, he had already given up all the luxuries and began to propagate the Da'wah (invitation) with great enthusiasm and ambition. He started his mission from Balkh and used to send missionaries to the provinces of the country. Besides being well-versed in fields of knowledge, he had a great ability and power of eloquence.
This caused Abbasid-minded Ulema to agitate the public to rise against him because they were the enemies of the Fatimids. Soon the Saljuqs ruled the land, and became convinced that Nasser's activity was a serious threat to them. He took refuge in Mazandaran. He also tried to propagate the Da'wah but unfortunately was confronted with the same enmity. Once again he directed his efforts towards Balkh and entered Neishabour, where he had to face the same hostility, so he left for Badakhshan and settled in Yamgan. He made Yamgan his seat of Dawat, from where he used to send every year a book written by himself to the provinces, in support of his propagation.
The best known of Nasser's prose works is the Safarnameh, a description of his pilgrimage to Mecca; Zad-al Musafrin, an encyclopedia which deals with the varied questions of a metaphysical and cosmographical nature; Wajhi Din an introduction to Ismailism; and Jami al Hikmatain in which he attempted a harmony between theology and philosophy.
Nasser Khosro died at 87 in Yamgan and was buried there. His mausoleum is looked upon as a holy shrine by the natives of Badakhshan in Tajikistan.

Vestiges of an ancient mosque belonging to the Ilkhanid era (1251-1355 AD) were unearthed during latest archeological excavations in Takht-e Soleiman, West Azarbaijan.
Yousef Moradi, in charge of the excavation team, said the remnants of the monument were uncovered on the ruins of an olden fire temple erected during the Sassanid dynasty (224-651 AD).
"Preliminary evidence suggest that the local people built the mosque after the death of Abaqa Khan, the Ilkhanid ruler," he mentioned.
"The mosque has been constructed over the remains of the Sassanid fire temple and the red columns observed in the temple in fact belong to the mosque."
Moradi told the Cultural Heritage News Agency there is evidence to suggest that the Takht-e Soleiman residents built a bazaar, a public bath and a mosque with capacities for more than 100 people.
Parts of the discovered prayer hall, altar and columns testify that the mosque was built in a very simple style without any luxuries and only to meet the spiritual needs of people who were driven out of Takht-e Soleiman during the late Ilkhanid realm.
The spectacular Takht-e Soleiman (Solomon's Throne) is located 45 km northeast of Takab, in West Azarbaijan. The site boasts the grand Sassanid fire temple and is located beside a picturesque lake by the same name. The site joined UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites last year.

First volume of An Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Stories hit bookstores in Sweden recently, with work proceeding on the second volume.
The stories in the anthology have been selected by Amir Hassan Cheheltan and translated by a professor of Persian literature in Sweden, John Kalson.
The volume features 10 stories from contemporary Iranian authors including Simin Daneshvar, Goli Taraqqi, Mahmoud Dolat-Abadi, Monirou Ravanipour, Ahmad Mahmoud, Reza Barahani, Javad Mojabi, Nasim Khaksar, Amir Hassan Cheheltan and Shahriar Mandanipour.
Talking to the Persian newspaper Iran, Cheheltan said, "The book has been warmly welcomed by Swedish readers since it was introduced to the market three weeks ago. This has prompted the Swedish publisher to decide to release up to the third volume of the work. It also plans to publish an anthology of Iranian poetry and drama later."
He continued that the book received wide media coverage in the country, with several critiques and reviews written on its stories in less than a month.
"Iranian classical literature has been introduced on a large scale across the world. It is time we presented our modern literature, which is much more profound than Arab and Turkish literature, to the international community," Cheheltan said, adding, "The translator spent two years on the work, and kept in touch with me all the time trying to find the best Swedish equivalents for Persian expressions and proverbs."
The first volume of the anthology is reportedly available in most bookstores in Sweden.

Hessabi Cultural Museum hosts close to 130 visitors daily including foreign tourists, director of the museum said.
Iraj Hessabi, Professor Mahmoud Hessabi's son, reiterated that the main reason behind launching Prof. Hessabi's Cultural Museum was to familiarize the young generation with the life and thoughts of the great contemporary Iranian scientist, Fars News Agency reported.
He pointed out that the friends and family of Professor Hessabi all cooperated in turning the residence of the late scholar, which dates back hundred years ago and is located in Tehran's Tajrish district, into a museum.
The museum features various memorabilia from travelogues to scientific medals, texts of speeches, letters, membership and other old documents, calculations, correspondences, scientific and cultural works, as well as pictures of the late Professor Hessabi, he said.
"Visitors to the museum are acquainted with the vastness of Prof. Hessabi's knowledge, his simple lifestyle, his compassion and humanistic attitudes, his contributions to national development and progress, as well as his beliefs and loyalty to ethics," he pointed out.

Thousands of native Americans--some in buckskin and feathers, others in T-shirts and jeans--joined a ceremonial procession last Tuesday to celebrate the opening of the Museum of the American Indian, Reuters reported.
To the sound of jingling bells, pounding drums and high-pitched flutes, the procession of more than 500 groups of native people wound from the ornate Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall to the new museum, a rounded rock-faced building meant to recall the natural world.
Ken Klaudt, who lives on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, came to the procession in white beaded buckskin and a feathered bonnet, which he said was a replica of what his grandfather wore. Other ancestors among his Arikara and Mandan forebears were scouts at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876, Klaudt said.
The often bloody encounters between native peoples and the US government are not emphasized in the museum, and Klaudt was among those who preferred to focus on the positive aspects of the attention now being focused on native cultures.
All were in Washington to celebrate the opening of a museum that was nearly 15 years in the planning. The permanent exhibits inside--one on cosmology, another on history and a third on the way native communities live now--were put together with collaboration from 24 tribes and native communities.
"Visitors will leave this museum experience, knowing that Indians are not part of history," the museum's founding director, W. Richard West, a Southern Cheyenne, said in a statement. "We are still here and making vital contributions to contemporary American culture and art."
The list of tribal groups attending the procession ranged from the Aamjiwnaang to the Zuni tribe, and included groups from throughout the Western Hemisphere and some Pacific islands.

Looting of religious icons from Russian churches has risen sharply this year, as a craze among foreign art collectors fuels demand for the objects, the interior ministry said, AFP reported.
According to official figures, 111 Russian churches were pillaged between January and June this year, with more than 36,000 icons listed as stolen.
The theft of church icons had increased 80 percent compared to the same period last year, according to spokesman, Yuri Korolev, who said a climate of impunity was partly to blame.
"Recent changes to the penal code have downgraded such offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. Lighter penalties are an encouragement to young people who feel they can act with impunity," he told reporters.
Korolev said the icons were trafficked by organized criminal gangs, who also dealt in stolen artworks and archeological treasures, using bulldozers to excavate the objects en masse from the ground.

An on-line survey shows that an overwhelming majority of participants agreed that the Chinese language needed more protection, because many would forget how to write without a computer, the Beijing-based China Youth Daily reported, chinaviews.cn said.
In the survey, conducted by the newspaper and Chinese news portal sina.com, 80 percent of the 432 people surveyed checked "We urgently need to strengthen the protection of the Chinese language." Survey takers who think "It's unnecessary" and those who don't care each constitute 10 percent of the total.
Chinese have to rely on western alphabet-based keyboards to put in pictograhic Chinese characters, which makes them forget the exact strokes and strikes of each word when writing on paper.
According to the survey, 67 percent occasionally forget how to write certain Chinese characters, 12 percent frequently encounter the problem, and only 21 percent have no such difficulties.
With the rapid popularization of computers, the survey says that only 47 percent of people use pens to write everyday, about 20 percent write with pen often but not daily, while about 30 percent said they "generally type on the computer and rarely write with a pen."
The paper said that young people today rely more on typing on computers than writing on paper, and the popularity of foreign languages among young people is another cause for their detachment from their mother language.
As a result, many even speak Chinese mixed with foreign words, which causes the outcry of language pundits for the safeguard of the Chinese language.
When asked "Compared with your parents' generation, what do you think of your Chinese?," 52 percent answered "better," 25 percent said "more or less the same," and only 23 percent said "worse."

Tabriz Jame' Mosque in East Azarbaijan province is one of the historic monuments of the area. The mosque has gone through major changes throughout the ages (Saljuqid-Qajarid periods, 11th-19th century). Today, it is the seat of theology students and a place for religious ceremonies.