Boozing in Iran

[Drinking In Iran-before 1979 revolution]

Digressing this (Monday) morning from reference 1 (hijab) to reference 2 (booze), I was interested to read that Iranians are into booze, despite the strictures on same emanating from on-high.

That as things stand, they are very dependant on smuggled booze, moonshine and home brew. With all the troubles that they bring: much better to be able to rely on Budweiser and Diageo to do the job for you.

But the situation in Iran is not the same as that in Afghanistan. In the latter, prohibition is an option available to the Taliban. In the former, there is a long and honourable tradition of boozing which it is not practical to stamp out.

I wonder whether the line taken in the second article reflects the difference between the backward countryside, and the educated towns? A difference that I have read is very marked in Iran, much more so than in, for example, the England of today. Maybe two hundred years ago, but not now.

Also whether the difference between Iran and Afghanistan is also mixed up with the difference between Shia and Sunni - with the latter being more prone to religious-puritanical excesses than the former.

From which I associate to a correspondent who likes to explain how all the rich Saudis used to come to London, ostensibly for some treatment or other, when they fancied knocking back a drop or two of J&B. They could cope with zeal and fervour at home - just so long as they could drop out from time to time.

PS 1: casting around for an illustration for this post, using both Bing and Google, I turned up lots of stuff about alcohol in Iran. Lots of it, lots of problems, some enforcement, some of which is lethal. I suppose, just as in the US between the wars, that they will eventually see the error of their ways. I think parts of India dabble with prohibition too - where male boozing can exacerbate the family problems of poverty. From where I associate to George Eliot's writing about female alcoholism, and her probably being quite  boozer too.

PS 2: diligent search fails to turn up the posts which I feel sure exist about George Eliot and booze. An academic monograph and one of her stories in 'Scenes of Clerical Life'. In which connection, Bing had to correct my memory of the incorrect 'Scenes from Provincial Life'.

References

Reference 1: Iran to resume hijab patrols after protests over death in custody: Islamic republic threatens renewed enforcement by morality police 10 months after Mahsa Amini lost her life - Najmeh Bozorgmehr, Financial Times - 2023.

Reference 2: Iran’s relationship with alcohol is reaching a tipping point: An artist’s death has raised questions about the dangers of the black market for liquor - Najmeh Bozorgmehr, Financial Times - 2023.