Iran bans Da Vinci Code book after 8 editions

CBC Canada
June 26 2006

Iran has stopped publication of the bestselling novel The Da Vinci
Code after protests about the book from three Christian clerics.

The Persian translation of Dan Brown’s thriller is in its eighth
edition in Iran, and books already on the market will not be removed
from shelves.

But Iran’s culture ministry announced Wednesday that it would not
allow another edition to be published.

"Based on the request of three Christian clerics, yesterday we decided
to ban its republication," said an official at the Ministry of Culture
and Islamic Guidance, according to Reuters.

Iranian Christians, numbering about 100,000, are a small minority in
a country of 69 million Muslims.

However, there are two seats in Iran’s parliament for the mainly
Christian Armenian community and one for the tiny Assyrian Christian
community.

Christian groups around the world have objected to The Da Vinci Code,
because it suggests that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and the
couple had a child, whose bloodlines survive to this day.

The book, first published in 2003, has sold more than 60 million
copies worldwide and been made into a film starring Tom Hanks.

The film has not been permitted into Iran, but is available in
pirated DVDs.

Egypt, Pakistan and some states in India have also banned The Da
Vinci Code.