MNA � President of France, Fran�ois Hollande, has visited Iran�s stand at Paris Book Fair on Fri., voicing keen interest in having a strong presence during Tehran�s Intl. Book Fair in May.


French President Fran�ois Hollande visited Iran�s stand at the invitation of the stand�s director Ahmad Shakeri, on the sidelines of his tour of the 37th Paris International Book Fair on Friday. During his visit, he also held brief talks with a number of Iranian authors and cultural managers present at the stand.

Shakeri told Mehr News correspondent that President Hollande, after felicitating the present Iranians on Nowruz and the New Year, voiced his appreciation for their cultural activities at the fair and expressed hope that books would serve as a pulling link to bring the two countries closer than ever.

Managing Director of Iran Cultural Fairs Institute, Amir Massoud Shahramnia, also called for a more active presence of French publications at Tehran International Book Fair in May, which was warmly welcomed by President Hollande.

During his visit of the Iranian stand, the French President was gifted a book titled �Iran� composing photographs by Afshin Bakhtiar of various Iranian sites accompanied by information about the photographs provided by Ali Akbar Abdolrashidi and Armand Karimi-Goudarzi.

The 37th Paris Book Fair will end March 27.