The controversial scientist and atheist said the move was in response to a “stirrings toward atheism in Iran and other Islamic countries”.

“We are choosing languages, not countries,” said Dawkins. “The pdfs may, of course, be downloaded by anybody in any country, but we imagine most Urdu downloads will be in Pakistan, most Indonesian downloads in Indonesia and Malaysia, and most Farsi downloads in Iran.”

An unofficial Arabic pdf of the book had been downloaded 13 million times, prompting him to announce the latest move, he said.