Tehran, April 15: Iran has lashed out at Britain’s decision not to grant entry visas to several Iranian private sector publishers who intended to attend the London International Book Fair.
Deputy Culture Minister and Director of Tehran International Book Fair Bahman Dorri denounced the British Foreign Office’s move in rejecting several applications by Iranian private sector book publishers who had applied to participate in London Book Fair on April 11-13.
The official said the misbehavior towards Iranian nationals would definitely be reciprocated since they intended to take part in a cultural event with the objective of making the British people more familiar with the Iranian culture.
“Britain’s obstructive move to prevent Iranian publishers from attending London Book Fair will not certainly go unanswered,” said Dorri.
The British Foreign Office’s staff in Tehran and Abu Dhabi denied entry visas for Iranian publishers by claiming that the Iranian publishers might not be willing to return home after the exhibition comes to end or they may not be able to afford to buy a ticket to return.
Earlier, the Iranian cultural attache in London announced that it would have two stands at the expo where books under various subjects and titles including culture, art, religion and literature would be displayed in English.
Ali-Mohammad Helmi said that the books, mainly published by the Al-Hoda International Publication & Islamic Thought Foundation (ITF) and the Andisheh Foundation, will be available at the fair.
——–Agencies