confiscation of certain books, the closing down of book stalls that stocked the works of oppositionist authors, and the imposition of unconventional regulations regarding the distribution of books has angered both publishers and customers.28 For example, during last year’s book fair in Tehran (23rd May, 2010), the government permitted only books that had been approved for publishing after 2005, i.e. during Ahmadinejad’s term, to be sold at the book fair. This was a direct attack against what was perceived by the conservatives to be a relatively relaxed period of reform during Khatami’s two terms as Iranian president.
An autocratic government when it comes to distributing books The latest piece in the soft war’s puzzle is the set of restrictions being imposed on books through the government’s distribution policies. This is a critical issue for the government’s security and intelligence agencies because if they have full control over the distribution process of books, they can prevent the distribution of books by so-called ‘subversive authors.’ In addition, they can also promote the books that they believe are representative of their own way of thinking. Tehran is a big city with an overflowing population and there are many inherent problems when it comes to distributing books. However, this problem is not just specific to Tehran and is also occuring in Iran’s other cities. One of the reasons that the Tehran International Book Fair is functioning more as a super-sized book store than an exhibition, is because of the problems surrounding 28. Khabar Online, "Books of Ayatollah Montazei and Saneie Have Been Removed From Tehran’s Book Fair," Khabar Online, May 6, 2010, http:// khabaronline.ir/news-60052.aspx.
Cultural Censorship in Iran
21