TEHRAN – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei urged the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to put out quality books for the younger generation.

He made the remarks in a visit to the 32nd Tehran International Book Fair on Monday.

“The culture ministry should try to put out good books with valuable materials for the younger generation,” said Ayatollah Khamenei who was accompanied by Culture Minister Seyyed Abbas Salehi.

“We should not be concerned over the distortion of information by the West about freedom of expression in Iran,” he said and added, “Western countries are suffering from censorship of books but they do not want to acknowledge it.”

Ayatollah Khamenei praised Revayate Fat’h Publications for publishing “Farhad’s Footprint”, a biography of a Zoroastrian soldier who was martyred during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

He also expressed his admiration of Ofoq Publications for its books from the world’s classical literature, including Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities”.

The Tehran International Book Fair is currently underway at Imam Khomeini Mosalla and will run until May 4.

MMS/YAW