Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran earns 5 trillion rials (about $180 million) from importing Marlboro cigarettes, Iran's deputy industry minister Mojtaba Khosrotaj said.
He said the media should disclose who benefits from smuggling cigarettes into the country, opposing the legal imports, Iran's ISNA news agency reported on Feb. 17.
Meanwhile, Iranian Minister of Industries, Mines and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh has defended decision of issuing license for imports of Marlboro cigarettes.
He said proper investigations have been carried out, and it was clarified that the imported cigarettes are not from Israel, following which the the ministry issued the license for legal imports to prevent smuggling.
The ministry has issued necessary licenses for importing and producing 12 billion Marlboro cigarettes, according to Iranian media outlets which has triggered objections by Iranian hardliner MPs calling the US firm a "Zionist company."