Foreign Policy: Iran Is Losing Its Jihad on Tobacco
“…More than a decade ago, Iran passed one of the world’s most comprehensive anti-smoking laws. The 2007 law bans smoking in closed places such as buildings, hotels, restaurants, and cars. Iran scored nine out of 10 in the World Health Organization’s latest tobacco report, which evaluates a country’s laws, cessation efforts, and other anti-tobacco measures. … Yet after 11 years, tobacco use in Iran remains almost the same as when the law first passed. … Whether it is smokers or protesting workers, the government now has a harder time exercising control…” (Erlich, 1/29).