The 8th edition of Tehran Auction was held on January 12 at Parsian Hotel. Some 120 works created by contemporary Iranian artists went under the hammer. The most expensive item sold this year belonged to a female artist, according to Tehran Auction House, while three pieces passed the one-billion-toman mark. Another top seller was a historic photograph taken from a military operation, codenamed Karbala 5, during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. At least 35 modern and classical works also auctioned above 100 million tomans. All the works auctioned fetched some 14.95 billion tomans in total. The event aims to support the domestic art market as a key to the international market. The auction closely collaborates with local art galleries and collectors to ensure a vast selection of paintings, sculptures and photographs.