Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
April 8 2007

Illicit booze kills 10 in Iran holy city: report
(AFP)

8 April 2007

TEHERAN – Ten people have died after drinking homemade hooch in a
holy city in Iran, where the consumption of all alcohol is banned,
the Kayhan newspaper reported on Sunday.

`On April 2, a large quantity of bootlegged alcohol was distributed
in Qom,’ Iran’s clerical capital and the home of many religious
seminaries, south of Teheran, it said.

`A number of the drinkers were hospitalised and according to the
inhabitants of Qom, 10 people have died,’ the ultra-conservative
daily added.

It said that local officials had yet to confirm the death toll.

It is not the first time that toxic moonshine has claimed lives in
Iran, an Islamic country where the production and consumption of
alcohol is generally strictly prohibited.

In May 2006, 15 people died from alcohol poisoning in the southern
city of Sirjan, while in June 2004 it was reported that 22 Iranians
died of the same cause in the southern city of Shiraz.

Only recognised Christian minorities in Iran, such as the Armenians,
are allowed to produce and consume alcohol, discreetly and behind
closed doors so as not to offend Islamic sensibilities.

Production, sale or consumption of alcohol are otherwise punishable
by jail or the lash, although this has not stopped significant
smuggling from neighbouring countries.

Newspapers reported on Sunday that 46,000 cans of beer had been
seized and destroyed in the capital in recent months.

Home distilled spirits sell for far less than smuggled foreign brands
and are the tipple of choice in poorer neighbourhoods, but the use of
industrial chemicals in their production sometimes poses serious
health risks.