On Wednesday, the Supreme Leader said, "Iranian officials should encourage the youth to read useful books....Reading should become an everyday habit among all Iranians, and the youth in particular." Pointing to Iran's long history of publishing books, he expressed disappointment at the current figures of book publication and reading.
A quick look at how the Islamic Republic has encouraged reading in recent years....
November 2006: The regime bans thousands of books, including acclaimed works from homegrown novelist Sadegh Hedayat, classics like William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, and best-sellers like The Da Vinci Code. Minister of Culture Mohammad Hossein calls publishers "assistants for evil" and says they should stop serving a "poisoned dish to the young generation."
January 2011: A think tank close to Iranian security forces publishes a leaflet listing publishers, writers, and translators who are “usurpers” intent on overthrowing the regime. The publishers include Cheshmeh, Ghoghnous, Akhtaran, and Kavir. Among the writers listed are Emaduddin Baghi, Ramin Jahanbegloo, and poet Simin Behbahani.
The work of novelist Paulo Coelho is banned.
Mehr reports on the closing of businesses along Tehran's Karim Khan Avenue, renowned for its bookstores.
The head of the Basij militia, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, tells an audience of the dangers for Iran's students of "Western" texts in the humanities and social sciences.
May 2011: Works by leading novelist Ali Ashraf Darvishian and several other writers are ordered off the shelves at the Tehran International Book Fair.
The books which are removed include An Introduction to Heidegger's Existential Philosophy; The Nik-Akhtar Family, a novel by distinguished Iranian satirist Iraj Pezeshkzad; the third volume of The Cambridge History of Iran; and a book about yoga.
July 2011: Six printing houses close because of economic problems, including a shortage of orders and the rise of imported products.
Writer Mostafa Rahmandust notes only one book for each two Iranian children is published annually, "A writer is not able to earn a living, nor is a publisher hopeful about the outcomes of his/her work....Cultural officials have not carried out their duties properly in the field of children's literature."
But there is one positive development in the Iranian book world, with the appearance of a new work titled "Leading Approaches". The subject? A collection of the speeches and statements of an Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.