Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, has made it known that he will not visit the Tehran Book Fair this year.
Ayatollah Khamenei’s officer announced that unlike in previous years, he will not be visiting the book fair due to a heavy calendar of engagements.
This will be the first time that Iran’s Supreme Leader will not visit the annual fair, where he often spent two and a half hours examining the various booths.
Iranian President Hassan Rohani launched the book fair this year by making statements against censorship. This has created controversy and been repudiated by other top Islamic Republic figures, such as the head of the Guardian Council, Ahmad Jannati, and Gholamali Haddad Adel, the head of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature.
Reports from Iran also indicate that 12 books were removed from the book fair; it's said they had been published without the necessary permit.
