Iran bans Da Vinci Code after Christians complain
Reuters India, India
June 26 2006
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran has banned the best-selling novel "The Da
Vinci Code" after protests from the country’s Christian clergy, the
culture ministry said on Wednesday, but the Persian translation is
already in its eighth edition.
Iranian publishing thresholds have relaxed considerably in recent
years and Tehran booksellers have noted an increased appetite for
new age and spiritual titles.
"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 who declined to be named.
Most of Iran’s Christians belong to the Armenian church and number
some 100,000. Although a small minority in a country of 69 million
Muslims, the Armenians have two seats reserved for them in the
290-seat parliament.
The tiny Assyrian Christian community also has its own parliamentarian.
Many Christians have condemned Dan Brown’s page-turner, saying the
plot is offensive for arguing Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene
and that their descendants are alive today.
The Da Vinci Code has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide and
has been turned into a Hollywood film starring Tom Hanks. Although
the film has not had a box office release in Iran, the pirated DVD
is widely available.
Copies of the book were still on sale in Iran and will not be
taken off bookshelves, but a ninth edition will not be printed,
the official said.