TEHRAN – The Spanish edition of “Cell No. 14” (“Celda No. 14”), the autobiography of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, was introduced during a special ceremony at the House of Representatives of Colombia on Thursday.

The book and its audio edition have been offered by Iran at the International Book Fair of Bogotá, which is currently underway in the Colombian capital, the Persian service of IRNA announced.

A number of Colombian cultural figures and officials, including Mary Anne Andrea Perdomo, a member of the House of Representatives of Colombia, attended the ceremony.

She said that despite the negative image shown by the media of Iran in the international arena, the country, in fact, plays a key role to preserve the peace in the Middle East. She noted that her country is eager to expand relations with Iran.

Victor De Currea-Lugo, a professor at the National University of Colombia and Marlon Cantillo Borrero, the director of the Casa Cultural Islamica Ahlul Bayt in Colombia, also attended the ceremony.

“Cell No. 14” was launched as part of the International Fair of Venezuelan-Iranian Culture and Friendship held in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas in March.

Ayatollah Khamenei has sent a message to the book launch event.

“I would be very happy if I could have communicated with you, the speakers of Spanish, by this book,” the Leader wrote in a short message.

“This book covers a brief episode of my life. What a good thing it would be if we, you and all justice-seeking nations can be more understanding and supportive of each other. May God bless you,” he concluded.

The book focuses on the first half of the life of Ayatollah Khamenei, from his early childhood all the way to the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought the monarchical regime to an end in Iran.

The Persian edition “Khun-e Deli ke La’l Shod” (“The Pains that Changed into Gains”) was published by Islamic Revolution Publications in 2019.

It was a Persian translation of “Inna Ma as-Sabri Nasra” the Leader had written in Arabic. The memories were then compiled by the Iranian Arabic language scholar Mohammad-Ali Azarshab.

The Arabic version was unveiled by Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during a ceremony held in Beirut in February 2019 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

The book also contains unpublished photos of the Leader, his father and his children, in addition to a photo collection of paintings related to the topics in the book.

Photo: A member speaks during a book launch event for the Spanish edition of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s autobiography “Cell No. 14” at the House of Representatives of Colombia in Bogota on April 27, 2023.

MMS/YAW