March 15, 2019
Eleven candidates have been shortlisted for “Persian of the Year,” a new title being awarded by state broadcasting.
The title is an obvious rip-off from Time magazine’s Person of the Year chosen each December, and would appear to go contrary to the regime’s proclaimed effort to combat an American “cultural invasion” of Iran.
Channel One said the 11 finalists were chosen from a list of 40 figures through the votes of a jury as well as public votes.
The jury was composed of more than 30 celebrities, who selected the final candidates within the past few days. Public votes collected through the social media also played a key role in this stage, Channel One said.
Here are the 11 nominees in alphabetical order.
Esmat Ahmadian: Mother of a martyr who creates jobs for women in Ahvaz.
Mohammad Reza Amou-zadeh: A judge in Golestan province who issues public service sentences instead of prison sentences for minor crimes.
Yusef Aslani: An activist in the rehabilitation area and an entrepreneur for the disabled.
Esmail Azarinejad: A clergyman who travels to deprived areas of the southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad to tell stories to children.
Ziba Azizi: A rural woman from Sistan va Baluch-estan province who won the fourth prize of the Women’s World Summit Foundations (WWSF) for creativity in rural life.
Tannaz Bahri: A physician who has made a reverse migration from the Netherlands to offer services to Iranians.
Lobat Geranpayeh: Also known as the surgeon of the poor, she has so far visited 54,000 people and carried out surgeries on 1,500 others free of charge.
Haj Kazem Kabir Saber: A tea-seller from Tabriz who takes into account the weight of the packet in which the tea is sold.
Narges Kalbasi: A young woman who has dedicated her life to the lives of the 2017 earthquake victims in the Kermanshah area.
Mojtaba Mohammadi: A soldier from Khuzestan who saved civilians struck by the terrorist attack on a military parade in Ahvaz a few months ago.
Nureddin Tavassoli: A shepherd from Ilam province who plants trees while watching his sheep.