TEHRAN – A collection of Iranology books translated into various languages was unveiled during a special meeting at the Iran Book and Literature House in Tehran on Monday.

The collection is composed of 12 books published by the Iranian cultural centers working under the supervision of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO).

“Political System in the Islamic Republic of Iran” is one of the books, which has been published in Indonesian at the Iranian Culture Center in Jakarta. The original version has been authored by Iranian scholar Abbas Manuchehri.

A Bulgarian translation of “Iran Art History” originally written by Habibollah Ayatollahi is also among the books. The book was introduced at Sofia University earlier in December 2019.

The collection also has “Iran: Culture and Civilization” compiled and translated by the Iranian Cultural Center in Sofia. The book was introduced at the center in January 2019.

A Thai translation of “Iranology” is another book in the collection. The book was originally published by the Organization for Researching and Composing University Textbooks in the Humanities – SAMT in Tehran.

A Chinese translation of “Iranian Civilization” and a Kyrgyz rendition of “Iran” were also among the books.

A number of Iranian cultural attachés and ICRO officials attended the unveiling ceremony of the collection.

“One of ICRO’s missions is to give a positive image of the Islamic Republic and convey the concepts of the pure Islam of the Prophet Muhammad (S) and Shia through translation and publication of books,” ICRO official Atefeh Nuri said at the meeting.

She noted that “the global arrogance” is institutionalizing Iranophobia by giving a dark image of the country in the world and added, “The ICRO and other relevant organizations should try to correct this image and introduce a real image of Islam and Iran.”    

She said that the translations of Persian books by Iranian translators have caused damage to the authenticity of the books, however, the ICRO has designed a plan to employ natives to deal with the problem.    

“These translators can better convey the concepts and in addition, local publishers show more interest in publishing such translations and distributing the books in local libraries and universities,” she stated.

Photo: Cover of the Bulgarian translation of Abbas Manuchehri’s “Political System in the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

MMS/YAW