New culture minister visits top clerics
TEHRAN –(Iranart)- Following an established tradition at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Seyyed Abbas Salehi, who has recently taken the helm at the ministry, traveled to Qom on Thursday to meet with a number top clerics in the city that is home to Iran’s major seminary, Feizieh.
Ayatollah Seyyed Hashem Hosseini Bushehri, Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani and Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi were among those clerics who received Salehi at their offices.
Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi warned Salehi about “poisonous” materials published in books, in films and on social networks.
He asked Salehi to take control of books seriously and “not to be deceived” by the titles of books and the fame of their writers.
He also asked the culture minister to care about cinema, and said that some films may distort the facts in society and mislead people.
“The enemy is working in the virtual atmosphere,” Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi noted and asked for launching a national net, which would provide easier access to innocuous information.
A number Salehi’s assistants and colleagues such Deputy Culture Minister for Cinematic Affairs Mohammad-Mehdi Heidarian also accompanied him during the meetings.