IRI minister highlights case of Persian writing at TIBF closing ceremony

1391/02/24-08:30

A closing ceremony was held Saturday for the 25th edition of Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF) where the IRI Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Sayyed Muhammad Husseini highlighted the case of Persian writing style and urged the national publishing industry for strict compliance with precise Persian writing regulations.

The minister renewed a call made several days earlier by the Islamic Revolution Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei in an inspection of the landmark cultural event. In his visit to the book fair on May 6, Ayatollah Khamenei urged the Iranian publishers to seriously deal with Persian editing rules in their published materials.

Besides the minister of culture and Islamic guidance, several other senior authorities and figures too had joined the closing ceremony, including First Vice President, Muhammad Reza Rahimi, TIBF President, Bahman Dorri, presidents of previous editions of the book fair and a number of renowned Iranian authors.

Mr. Husseini said the international event was joined by people from different social and political strata, ranging from normal people in the street to senior domestic and foreign authorities and literary personalities. “This is evident of the significance and largeness of the cultural-literary event,” he added.

The book fair, the minister went on to say, served different thoughts and ideas from various corners of the world however no anti-Islamic or anti-humane perceptions were allowed to sit on exhibition stands in the public event.

Over six million people inspected the 25th edition of Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF), setting a record worldwide in terms of the number of visitors to any book fair ever recorded, Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) reported Saturday.

Mr. Husseini noted that 46 percent of domestic visitors had come from outside Tehran, revealing a special attention on the part of provincial populations to the landmark cultural event.

Prior to Mr. Husseini’s speech, the TIBF president in a short speech said that the 25th edition of the book fair was distinct from previous editions in several aspects, including record 6 million inspections paid to the event and several special marquees in the book fair, namely ‘Yas,’ ‘Islamic Awakening,’ and ‘a quarter of century of cultural Jihad (campaign).’

The ‘Yas’ marquee was dedicated to the lifestyle and thoughts of Hadhrat Fatema (S.A.), the revered daughter of Hadhrat Muhammad (S.A.) while the ‘Islamic Awakening’ marquee was dedicated to the ongoing Islamic Awakening movement in the Middle East and North Africa, otherwise erroneously called by the mainstream western media as ‘Arab spring.’ The last marquee was dedicated to review the past editions of the book fair.

Mr. Dorri described the book fair as a major national campaign adding that the cultural event served and covered a large population in the country.

During the closing ceremony, presidents of previous editions of the book fair were honored. Collectively seven individuals had run the previous editions excluding the incumbent Dorri however three former TIBF presidents failed to join the ceremony, namely Ahmad Masjed Jame’i, Muhammad Mehdi Karbaschi and Ehsanollah Hojjati. Those honored were Sabbah Zanganeh, Ali Reza Barazesh, Muhammad Ali Sho’ai and Mohsen Parviz.

Top publishers, pavilion directors and media arms too were honored and awarded during the ceremony.