TEHRAN (Iran News) –Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei paid a visit to the 34th Tehran International Book Fair at the Grand Mosalla of Tehran on Sunday morning.

As per tradition, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei paid a visit to the 34th Tehran International Book Fair currently underway at the Grand Mosalla of Tehran.

While there, Ayatollah Khamenei engaged in talks with a number of publishers present at the fair.

During his visit, the Leader called on Iranian publishers to work hard to promote the quantity and quality of the books to attract children and teenagers.

Ayatollah Khamenei also criticized the domination of foreign stories over domestic ones, saying that is a big disadvantage.

Speaking in an interview with an IRIB reporter on the sidelines of the fair, the Leader attached great importance to the role of books in the cultural development of the country.

He also put a great emphasis on the translation of Iranian books into foreign languages.

yatollah Khamenei said during his visit to the exhibition: “To attract children and teenagers, work as much as you can in terms of quantity and quality.”

The Leader also noted: “Foreign stories related to children still dominate the children’s books, which is a great disadvantage.”

He also said that people’s attendance in the book fair according to the statistics has been high and the number of books purchased by the people has been very good.

He added that despite some problems in the country, book publishing has progressed and added that rise in the price of paper and in some cases low quality of paper have been the major problem for the publishers and said that Islamic Guidance Minister has announced good news for producing good quality paper and expressed hope these actions would lead to the drop in the price of book.

In the end, the Leader hailed the atmosphere of the fair due to the presence of youths.

Over the years, Tehran International Book Fair has turned into a landmark book fair in West Asia and Asia after holding 31 editions in a row.

This year, nearly 100 foreign publishers, 200 booksellers, and 2,700 domestic publishers are active in the virtual and in-person section of the book fair.

The 32nd Tehran Book Fair will wrap up on May 30, 2023.