During his visit to the Tehran International Book Fair on Monday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei picked up “The Fall Of Tel Aviv,” a novel by Lebanese author Somayah Ali Hashem that depicts the hypothetical demise of the Jewish state.

Speaking to Iran International, Swedish publisher Masoud Mafan denounced Khamenei’s book selection as “beating the drum of war,” reflecting the Islamic Republic’s unrelenting belligerence and commitment to rallying forces against its arch-foe.

Initially a cultural event upon its 1987 inception, Tehran’s International Book Fair once attracted major international publishers like Oxford and Penguin. However, amid the regime’s increasingly belligerent policies, fewer foreign entities have participated in recent years. In fact, the fair itself took on an overtly militant tone this year. Representatives from Iran-backed Houthi militia from Yemen, known for recent strikes against Israeli and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, were hosted a special guests, according to the report.

Iran carried out its first ever direct assault on Israeli territory in April, firing over 350 cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones toward the Jewish state. Though most were intercepted by Israeli air defenses aided by a U.S.-led coalition, Israel retaliated by striking and destroying a crucial part of Iran’s S-300 air defense system at a base in Isfahan.