Iran's former culture minister, Ataollah Mohajerani, has criticised the country's supreme leader for restricting access to literature after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly attacked "harmful books" and likened them to "poisonous" drugs.
In a meeting with librarians and officials from Iran's book industry on Wednesday, Khamenei spoke out against books "with a cultural appe arance but with specific political hidden motives.
"Not all books are necessarily good and not all of them are unharmful, some books are harmful," he said, according to his official website, Khamenei.ir.
Mohajerani who was culture minister until 2000 under the reformist president Mohammad Khatami, said the ayatollah was worried about "literary, philosophical and social" books that might raise questions about his legitimacy as the supreme leader. "I think that he is very much concerned about books that can either implicitly or explicitly target his position as the supreme leader and also his legitimacy."
He had fallen foul of the ayatollah when he was at the ministry as he favoured greater cultural openness and removed thousands of titles from the lists of banned books. Some analysts believe his lack of deference to the hardline ayatollah was another reason he came under attack from conservative clerics which finally forced him to resign. Numerous publications were closed down after he went. He currently lives in exile in London.
In his speech, the 72-year-old Khamenei, whose pronouncements are often interpreted as official guidelines, refused to give more details on which books he deemed "harmful". However, titles ranging from uncensored version of Plato's Symposium to Louis-Ferdinand Céline's Journey to the End of the Night and works by James Joyce, Gabriel García Márquez, Kurt Vonnegut and Paulo Coelho have been banned in recent years by Iran's ministry of culture and Islamic guidance which vets all books before publication.
According to Mohajerani, Khamenei is a fan of fiction and closely follows publication of novels and other literary books.
"Those responsible in the book industry should not let harmful books enter our book market on the basis that we let them [readers] choose [what they want to read]," Khamenei told cheering crowds.
"Like poisonous, dangerous and addictive drugs which are not available for everyone without restrictions … as a publisher, librarian or an official in the book industry, we don't have the right to make [such books] available to those without knowledge," he said. "We should provide them with healthy and good books."
Mohajerani said: "His comments stem from a traditional clerical mentality that clerics guide people as shepherds guide their sheep, this is a viewpoint that doesn't have any place in today's life."
Although Iran's constitution prohibits censorship, publishers are required to submit all books to the cultural ministry where they are usually checked by three separate people charged with censoring words and phrases or labelling them as "inappropriate" for publication.
The supreme leader's comments come weeks after several writers complained about the time-consuming procedure of book publishing; some said they have waited several months and even years for permission.
Mohammad Mohammad-Ali, a celebrated fiction writer told the semi-official Isna news agency in a recent interview that he had waited for over two and a half years for permission to publish 10 of his books, but only one had so far been approved for publication.
Hassan Homayoun, a journalist and poet who has monitored censorship in Iran has published on his blog a series of comments made by censors.
According to Homayoun, in review of a poetry book, a censor commented that it lacked appropriate rhythm. With regard to a book by Gholam-Hossein Saedi, the censor said it contained sexually-provocative material and was too ambiguous and allegorical. In review of a book written by celebrated writer Mahmoud Dolatabadi, a censor said that it was too depressing.
Censors go as far as advising writers to substitute certain words with other "appropriate" phrases, should they wish their book to be approved.
In an interview with the semi-official Ilna news agency, another writer, Mohammad Baghaei Makan, said he was asked to change "wine" to "coffee" in a text he wrote in which he, ironically, expressed contempt for wine.
According to Ilna, words such as "kiss", "beloved", "wine" ,"drunk", "pork", "dance", "rape", "dog" and "meditation" are among others frequently asked to be substituted.
Shahriar Mandanipour, an Iranian novelist and a victim of censorship in Iran, has written a novel based on his experiences. Censoring an Iranian Love Story, published in 2009, follows the journey of a fictional writer who meets the man responsible for censoring his book.
In the face of book censorship in Iran, many celebrated writers such as Mahmoud Dolatabadi and Reza Barahani whose books are banned in Iran have chosen to publish their books in other languages outside the country.