Baku, Azerbaijan, May 26
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Iranians spend about $216 million on alcoholic drinks per year, an Iranian official said.
Mohammadreza Qadirzadeh, an official with the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, told Jahan-e Sanat newspaper May 26 that the provinces of Tehran, Alborz, Kermanshah and Lorestan have the highest level of alcohol consumption in the country.
Qadirzadeh said 81 people died in Iran due to the alcohol consumption between March 2014 and March 2015.
He added that there are 23 factories producing alcohol in Iran.
In February 2013, Iran's then Police Chief Esmaeil Ahmadi Moqaddam said there are about 200,000 people in Iran with alcohol addiction.
Under the Sharia law, alcohol consumption is forbidden in Iran and offenders may face harsh punishments.