Mohammad Asadi-Movahed, the head of Alhoda International Publishing Institute in Iran, showed willingness to cooperate with the Iraqi counterparts in the publishing industry, as well as the translation of Persian books to Arabic, and vice versa, ISNA reported.

“We [Iranians] consider Iran and Iraq a single country in terms of culture and history, and we expect the same vision toward Iran by the Iraqis,” Asadi-Movahed said.

Meanwhile, Hossein-Ali Sabzeh, who represented the Iranian Book and Literature Home at the book fair, said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between his organization and the Union of Iraqi Publishers would contribute to further cultural interactions between the two countries, as he hopes that “both sides will lay the groundwork for their publishers to participate more regularly in book fairs organized by each other in the post-COVID era.”

Abdolvahab Radhi, the Union of Iraqi Publishers’ chief and executive director of the book fair, appreciated Iranian publishers’ active participation at the event despite the coronavirus crisis, adding he will be looking forward to seeing more Iranians in future fairs in Basra and Najaf.

Having started on June 10, the 22nd edition of the Baghdad International Book Fair, under the theme, ‘The Book – Homeland,’ will conclude in the Iraqi capital on Sunday.

A total of 228 publishers from 14 countries, including Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, and Syria, have been participating at the 10-day exhibition.

Iran is being represented at the event by 1,200 book titles – in Persian and Arabic – in the fields of religion, culture, art, poem and literature, politics, and Iranian studies.


Source: Iran Daily