International Book Fair kicks off in Tehran

TEHRAN: 29th Tehran International Book Fair being held in Shahr-e-Aftab (Sun City) Exhibition Complex in south of the capital.

Iran President President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday opened the Int'l Book Fair, Iran media reported.

Minister of Culture Ali Jannati and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf as well as a number of publishers, media members and country's officials were present in the opening ceremony.

Tehran International Book Fair is to display domestic and foreign books as of May 4 for 11 days.

This year book fair has chosen 'Tomorrow Is Too Late to Read' as the motto for its 29th edition.

Earlier Iran’s deputy culture minister for cultural affairs Seyyed Abbas Salehi who is also the president of the Tehran International Book Fair has said that the event will experience a new atmosphere this year at Shahre Aftab, a newly-constructed fairground in southern Tehran.

He regarded Shahre Aftab, covering an area over 300,000 hectares, as a good and suitable location for the fair.

“It is a good place for a big cultural event and fortunately the fairground will be launched with the opening of the book fair,” he added.

“From now on, Tehran’s citizens will possess a city of culture and books,” he said, adding that the officials are well aware of the deficiencies of the fairground and that they will do their best to remove the obstacles in the coming days.

He further noted that after all these years the Tehran Book Fair is proud to be a landlord now and has finally found its own permanent location.

“Russia is the guest country this year and is attending with large number of officials and writers, some of whom will arrive in Tehran. Officials from the former guest countries of Oman and Italy will also attend the fair this year,” he asserted.

There are also several more officials, publishers and writers who will be visiting the fair coming from different countries such as Kuwait, Algeria, Germany, Spain and India, he concluded.