Hawzah News Agency – Speaking on Tuesday at the 39th Book of the Year Award and the 29th World Book of the Year Award of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Dr Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi said, "Holding such a great cultural event, in addition to introducing top and magnificent works, and strengthening cultural and social ties, is a platform for identifying top talents and supporting scientific and cultural elites".
The President added, "Despite technological and digital advances and the advent of social networks, books still have a glorious cultural status and almost no media has been able to replace books".
Dr Raisi described the book as a bridge between cultures and Civilizations and a means of disseminating the thoughts and ideas of intellectuals and scientists, saying, "If great works such as Avicenna, Hafez, Sa'adi, Sheikh Ansari, Akhund Khorasani and other great personalities were not preserved and published in books, who knew them today"?
After describing the decisive place of books in the life of a nation, the President said, "The Islamic Revolution of the Iranian people was a kind of cultural revolution, and the late Imam and the Supreme Leader of the Revolution have always promoted the culture of reading books".
Ayatollah Raisi also referred to the high position of freedom of expression and thought in the Islamic Republic and said, "Apart from these important values, justice and fairness in writing and expression are also among the values of the culture of the Islamic Revolution".
Dr Raisi added, "In the view of the Qur'an, in which God has sworn by the pen, the pen that is the guide of human beings, is valuable and its essence is justice, rationality, spirituality and morality".
Emphasising the importance of intellectual property, copyright and translation, the President said, "One of the most important rights in the field of writing and publishing is the rights of the reader and the audience, which must be observed, and justice and fairness in expression govern these rights".
Explaining justice in expression and writing, Ayatollah Raisi said, "Justice in expression and writing means that the speaker and writer present the material carefully and based on research and do not speak weakly and baselessly".
Dr Raisi expressed hope that the magnificent and superior works presented in such events will be well introduced in the society and will be a factor in promoting reading, adding, "The media and the people of science and culture should make every effort to promote reading among the people and explain the negative effects of indifference to the book on the fate of societies".
Ayatollah Raisi further explained the dissemination of facts and confrontation with distortion as manifestations of jihad of enlightenment and pointed out, "The book has an important and fundamental role in enlightening the ages for generations and can be an important criterion for distinguishing right from wrong".
Dr Raisi described writing based on exposing the face and tricks of the enemy, which the enemies do not like, as the main field of jihad of enlightenment and said, "Unfortunately, today in the cyberspace and even in publishing books, works are being published that try to purify the Pahlavi's and distort the obvious facts about the services of the Islamic Republic and its warriors".
The President described another field of efforts of writers and re

searchers as recording and disseminating facts to future generations and eras and added, "The enemy does not want the truth of the Holy Defense and the sacrifices of the shrine defenders to be known; And the fact that the Supreme Leader of the Revolution introduced Martyr Soleimani and Martyr Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis as a school was in order to make it clear that these martyrs are not two people but heroes of the current and a symbol of resistance".