Ministry of Culture: Some Works Have Been Removed from the Tehran Book Fair

An official from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance announced the removal of certain books from the international section of the Tehran Book Fair, describing these works as "promoting religious sectarianism," "containing inappropriate images," and in some cases, against Iran's national security. Ali Fereidouni, the director general of cultural associations and organizations at the Ministry, stated on Friday, May 6, to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), "So far, a number of books that did not align with the exhibition's criteria have been removed. These books in the Arabic section promoted extremism and ethnic and religious division, while those in the Latin section contained inappropriate images." Fereidouni also mentioned in another interview with Fars News Agency that some of the books presented in the international section of the Tehran Book Fair had falsified the name of the Persian Gulf, and these works were also removed from the exhibition. According to him, the Arabic and Latin works presented in the international section of the book fair have been evaluated in several stages, yet observers from the international content oversight committee are present daily at the Latin and Arabic booths. The 29th International Tehran Book Fair has been held since May 5 at the City of Sun exhibition complex located in southern Tehran, but despite three days having passed since its opening, some reports indicate that the exhibition complex and some booths are not fully prepared. The Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported on Friday that the electricity at the fair continues to be cut off, although Hossein Safari, the director of the welfare and executive committee of the book fair, described the electricity supply situation as improving. The report also noted a high number of visitors to the book fair, stating that the number of visitors "has exceeded the ceiling of what was predicted," leading to some books being sold out in certain booths within two days. However, ILNA also added that media-related booths have not attracted many visitors, describing them as "the emptiest and least frequented booths at the City of Sun." Recent editions of the Tehran Book Fair, which were held at the Mosalla in Tehran, were accompanied by many controversies, the most significant being the removal of numerous works by Iranian authors or Persian translations of certain books, and it remains to be seen how this policy will play out at the 29th fair. Ibrahim Nabavi, a satirist residing in France, wrote on his Facebook page that supervisory forces at the Tehran Book Fair collected all his works from the booth of the "Roozaneh" publishing house. He stated that some of these books have been reprinted seven or eight times. Nabavi concluded by reminding that "if books are to be banned based on their authors' names, then 99% of the books available in bookstores should be removed." Sepideh Jadiri, a poet residing in Prague, also wrote on her Facebook page that her publisher was asked not to bring any of her books to the fair. Meanwhile, the news website "Negah" reported that "Hayyan Publishing," managed by Mehdi Khazali, an activist critical of the Iranian government, has been banned from participating in the Tehran Book Fair. Hayyan Publishing was also unable to attend last year's Tehran Book Fair, which Khazali attributed to Ali Jannati, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance.