Iran honors Norway terror victims

Iran’s Zendegi Theater Group has dedicated a performance of their children’s play to the victims of last week’s bombing and shooting attacks in Norway.

The group, who participated in the 2011 Tromso International Theater Festival, staged The Flower during the closing ceremony of the Norwegian festival on Sunday, Mehr News Agency reported.

Directed by Jafar Mahyari, the play presents the battle of good and evil in a symbolic way and through the story of a woman who grows a flower with pure love but a man and a boy try to steal it from her.

The festival’s website described the play as a “poetic, visual and humorous performance about love and greed” which is enhanced by the “physical, clown-like performance of the actors and the playful use of music.”

The 2011 Tromso International Theater Festival was held on the theme of dialogue and in an attempt to promote peace through the medium of theatre.

A massive bomb explosion rocked government headquarters in Oslo on July 22, 2011, killing eight people and leaving several others injured.

On the same day, a gunmen opened fire on members of the youth wing of Norway’s Labor Party on nearby Utoeya Island, killing 68 people.

Islamophobic extremist Anders Behring Breivik has claimed responsibility for both attacks, which left a total of 76 people dead, but the Norwegian police say it is still not clear if he had any accomplices and their detectives are still investigating the case.

It was the worst violence in Norway since World War II, and citizens of the Scandinavian country are still in shock.

Breivik has expressed strong anti-Islam views. He previously said that he had had several discussions with members of the English Defense League, which is a racist and anti-Muslim group based in Britain.