TEHRAN – The Iran Book and Literature House in Tehran plans to organize an exhibition displaying 57 books praised by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

The book fair is part of a large exhibition the institute is currently organizing at the Sacred Defense Museum to feature Iran’s cultural achievements during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. The exhibit has been initiated to observe the 40th anniversary of the war, the institute announced on Thursday.

The Leader usually praises books he likes by writing commendations, which are officially published by his office. Most of the books are war memoirs or on other topics that revolve around the war.      

Among the books is “Those 23 Individuals” written by Ahmad Yusefzadeh about 23 young Iranian volunteers who were captives during the war. Mehdi Jafari made a screen adaptation of the story in 2018.

Another highlight of the collection is “All My Life at Thirteen”, the memoir of Iranian war prisoner Mehdi Tahanian.

As an Iranian volunteer, Tahanian was captured by Iraqi forces during the war when he was at the age of 13. Dar al-Hadarah, a Beirut-based publishing house, has recently purchased rights to the book.

The Leader also praised Tahanian’s other memoirs, “Imam Khomeini’s Little Soldier”. 

“The Girls of the Sun”, a novel about social issues affecting women, which was co-authored by Amir-Hossein Banki, Behzad Daneshgar and Mohammadreza Rezayatmand in 2008, was also praised by Ayatollah Khamenei.

Another different book in the collection is “Thirsty Windows”, writer Mehdi Qezeli’s diary on his trip to Karbala during November and December 2012 when he accompanied a caravan transferring the new zarih (outer sarcophagus enclosure) of the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) from Iran to the Iraqi city.

Iran Book and Literature House director Ayyub Dehqankar has said that so far, 18,232 titles have been published on the war since 1980.

Photo: This file photo shows copies of Iranian war prisoner Mehdi Tahanian’s memoirs “Imam Khomeini’s Little Soldier”.

MMS/YAW