◢ Iran is battling a paper crisis. Gradual price hikes have been increasing pressure on book and newspaper publishers over the last year, but the scale of the crisis became clear when Culture Minister Abbas Salehi announced on August 4 that the country has just enough newsprint paper in storage to meet two months worth of demand. The government has rolled out a support package that includes importing paper as an essential good. But the move defers real reform that is needed to address a decades-long problem of corruption and inefficiency.