Egyptian Pavilion Shut Down at Tehran Book Festival

And I thought we were crazy.

The Egyptian pavilion has been shut down at the Tehran International Book Festival (TIBF) for offering The Arabian Gulf Encyclopedia, the Tehran Times reports. After all, it’s a book “promoting the false, misleading and recently-concocted name of Arabian gulf in place of the correct, long-established and historically-documented name of Persian Gulf.”
Says TIBF international section director Mohammadreza Vasfi:

Arabian publishing companies are unaware of our sensitivities on this issue, so we face similar problems every year during the TIBF.

Well. You’d think they’d get a clue.

Apparently, the Italian pavilion was also shut down. In fact, they didn’t even show up, “due to their indiscipline.”

Says Vasfi:

Due to their indiscipline, Italian publishing companies are not interesting enough to be invited to international book fairs, including the TIBF.

Thanks to The Complete Review for digging this up.