TEHRAN – Deputy Culture Minister for Cultural Affairs Mohsen Javadi announced on Sunday that the Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF) has been canceled for 2020.

The decision to cancel Iran’s most important cultural event has been made due to a massive rise in the death toll from coronavirus in the country over the past few days.
 
“Some other programs on books have been prepared, which will be announced in the near future,” said Javadi, whose office had previously postponed the book fair to a time after the holy month of Ramadan due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ramadan began on April 24 and ended on May 23, while the 33rd edition of the book fair was scheduled to be held from April 14 to 24.

Turkey was slated to be the guest of honor of the Tehran International Book Fair this year.

Earlier the organizers had suspended China’s presence after the first cases of the disease were detected in the country.

Numerous cultural and art events, including the Fajr International Film Festival, have been canceled since February when the first cases of the COVID-19 infection were reported in Qom.

Photo: People visit the 32nd Tehran International Book Fair at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla on April 28, 2019. (Mehr/Majid Asgaripur) 

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