With the clear decline in the number of books and publications, the publishing sector in Iran is a collateral victim of the US sanctions, which were reflected in a significant increase in the prices of imported paper, which is paid for in hard currency.

"Once the US sanctions were reinstated in 2018, the price of paper rose, causing a major crisis in the publishing sector that may become existential," Emily Omray, director of Hoba House, which specializes in children's books in Tehran, told AFP.

Hoba owner Hussein Metwally says, "The decline in the value of our currency against the dollar, the price of paper paid in dollars, and the increase in transportation costs, which are also paid in (foreign) currencies, pushed the publishing sector into a state of stagnation."

In a country that does not manufacture pulp locally, the price of books directly depends on the fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Iranian riyal against the dollar.

"If a 200-page novel was sold for 400,000 riyals (1.6 dollars) last year, its price today is one million riyals (4.1 dollars), most of which is related to the cost of production," said Reza Hashemi-Nejad, head of "Ofok" publishing house.

difficulties

In addition, publishers face another difficulty. In Iran, the price of a book can no longer be changed once the publisher sets it before printing, while the price of paper fluctuates greatly.

Hashemi Nejad says, "Between the moment I receive the manuscript and the moment it is released and the price of the book is determined, I can suffer a complete loss if the price of paper rises suddenly, and this happens because I am at the mercy of exchange rate fluctuations."

The unilateral withdrawal of the United States in 2018 from the international agreement on the Iranian nuclear file and the subsequent re-imposition by Washington of heavy sanctions on Tehran plunged the Iranian economy into a violent recession.

Hashemi Nejad says that "selling books is like a miracle today because the majority of customers belong to the middle class, and given the economic situation, their priority is to obtain basic consumer goods such as food."

"I really wonder: How do people still buy books at these prices, that's amazing," he adds, and as the crisis continues to fester, many small publishing houses have had to stop working.

Omari also regrets "the exclusion of many independent publishing houses - which have published excellent works - from the market", as even large publishing houses are forced to look for ways to survive.

"We give up profits as much as possible in order to preserve our readers, we reduce the number of publications and pages and we publish digital books to avoid the use of paper and reduce expenses," says Hasheminejad.

Out of stock?

But he considers that this strategy can only last "a year or two, even for the most solid publishing houses."

Hasheminejad warns that "in a few months, when the books stored in warehouses will run out, customers will be shocked when they see the new prices."

As for the authors, they are likely to suffer the consequences of this situation because they charge according to the number of pages, whether they are unknown or obscure.

On Enghelab Street - where bookshops are concentrated in Tehran - retired professor Bahjat Mazloumi finds it difficult to find used books.

"I can no longer buy a book for myself, to the point that street vendors are now selling books at a very high price," says the sixty-year-old Iranian.

Sector workers are also concerned about young Iranians - especially in rural or disadvantaged areas - who were already having difficulty obtaining books.

Hashemi Nejad says that the lack of books and the lack of their distribution - especially in these areas - may contribute to increasing "social differences between children."