Minister of Culture: We Will Reform Texts Through Dialogue

Reza Salehi Amiri, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, stated on Tuesday, February 8, that "the era of strictness has come to an end." He announced that they have decided not to declare red lines in the publishing sector anymore and that those whose texts need reform will do so through dialogue and negotiation. According to ISNA news agency, he referred to the remarks of Hassan Rouhani, the former President of Iran, regarding "trusting writers" and "abandoning unnecessary strictness," saying: "The era of cooperation with cultural and artistic figures has begun." The Minister's reference was to Rouhani's statements at book fairs in recent years, where he warned against the subjectivity of book censorship and the imposition of strictness on publishers and authors. He also announced "statistics of 65,000 works that have received publishing licenses in the past year," stating that "14,000 of these are translated books and over 50,000 are authored works." According to Salehi Amiri, "less than three thousand of these books needed oversight and censorship." He emphasized that "free writing and publishing books is the definitive policy of the President," stating: "We have decided not to declare red alerts anymore, meaning we will resolve even this three thousand through dialogue and negotiation so that the owners of these works can address the texts that do not comply with the red lines, allowing everyone to publish their works freely." Regarding the reduction of restrictions in the Sixth Development Plan, Salehi Amiri stated that in Article 23 of the cultural section of the Sixth Development Plan, the Ministry of Culture is obliged to "facilitate the processes of issuing licenses and reviewing and reducing restrictive regulations on the production and publication of cultural and artistic works." This section also states that "the judiciary and law enforcement are required to provide the necessary security for the production and publication of works and the implementation of licensed cultural and artistic programs and to compensate for damages caused by obstruction, provocation, or disruption in the production and publication of these works." However, critics of this program argue that the cultural section of the Sixth Development Plan has witnessed two major changes: "the method of generalizing and delegating cultural censorship has become widespread, and there is no news of cultural ambition." In August of this year, the head of the book department of the Ministry of Culture announced that the delegation of censorship to publishers would begin with state and public publishers and those with "academic boards and experienced staff." Mohammad Selgi, in an interview with ILNA news agency published on August 1, stated that "the entire work" of the Ministry of Culture regarding book censorship will not be delegated to publishers, and this process "requires time." Ali Jannati, the first Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Rouhani's government, announced in the early months of his tenure that one of his programs was "delegating censorship to publishers," an action that critics, including Ali Asghar Ramadanpour, Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance in the Khatami government, labeled as "the development of a censorship organization." Nevertheless, Hossein Nooshabadi, the spokesman for the Ministry of Culture, emphasized that publishers have not shown a willingness to take on censorship responsibilities, and "therefore censorship of books remains under the Ministry of Culture." The Iranian Writers' Association has previously reminded Mr. Rouhani in a statement that "perhaps the government can justify the arrests of social, cultural, and political activists with the excuse that they are carried out by other institutions and the executive branch has no role in it," but "in the matter of book censorship and issuing permits for its publication, it does not even have this excuse, as the publication of books is under the direct supervision and orders of the executive branch and the President himself." This association also emphasized that the government is responsible for other "arrests" as well. James Merchant, head of research at the Small Media Company, which published the report "The Writer's Block: The Story of Censorship in Iran," stated in an interview with Radio Farda that "Rouhani has polished some edges but has not provided any fundamental changes or reforms that could significantly increase the freedom of Iranian writers." According to Merchant, "some writers even say that the new censors during Rouhani's time are better equipped than before and have the ability to recognize metaphors and allegories, making them more dangerous than the censors during Ahmadinejad's time, who were primarily sensitive to words like sex, wine, and insults." Meanwhile, Amnesty International, in its annual report, stated that Iranian officials continue to impose restrictions on freedom of expression.