As Economic Sanctions Bite, Iranians Knock Back Another Drink

An entrepreneur based in Tehran says Iranians are increasingly turning to alcohol to cope with the myriad social problems brought on, in part, by economic sanctions. This businessman can’t use his real name for security reasons – so he goes by the name “Behzad.”

“The way alcohol is being sold in Iran is underground. You know a person, who knows a person, who can deliver you the alcohol by your doorstep,” Behzad says.

Many Tehran residents were alarmed by the recent decision of Iran’s Supreme Court to uphold a ruling calling for the execution of two individuals found guilty of imbibing, according to Behzad.

“This was completely surprising to us,” he says. “We never had an execution for alcohol before. And this was not for executing people who were smuggling alcohol, but people who were consuming it. A lot of people consume alcohol in Iran. ”

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Marco Werman: In Iran it’s not legal to to toss back a drink in a subterranean bar or anywhere else for that matter. Alcohol is banned by Iran’s Islamic state. But alcohol consumption seems to be on the rise there. Iranian officials say they are confiscating more alcoholic beverages and in recent days authorities upheld the death penalty for two Iranians found guilty of drinking. For a reaction, we turned to an Iranian entrepreneur in Tehran, we’ll call him Behzard. He doesn’t use his real name for security reasons.

Behzard: This was completely surprising to us. We never had an execution for alcohol before, and this was not for executing people who were smuggling alcohol, but people who were consuming it, and a lot of people consume alcohol in Iran and most of them hard liquor.

Werman: What were the circumstances? Somebody was in some kind of a speakeasy having a drink, and the social police found them?

Behzard: Usually, the way alcohol is being sold in Iran is very underground. So you know a person who knows a person who can deliver you the alcohol by your doorstep. Probably what has happened is maybe they had a big party and they had a lot of alcohol and somebody called the social police and they came down and caught these guys.

Werman: So it is pretty easy to find a drink if you’re really looking for one in Tehran?

Behzard: Yes. You can find anything here in Tehran, and I mean anything, from hand guns to drugs to alcohol to prostitutes, and specially prostitutes is becoming a very big problem. And one other thing is because of the inequality in the society, we have a lot of the worst cases in Iran. These are mainly because the married people, they are trying to find some other sources of security, so there’s a lot of adultery going on.

Werman: Behzard, you’re probably tired about hearing and thinking about economic sanctions but sanctions targeting Iran are tightening this weekend when the European Union clamped down on Iran’s oil goes into full effect. Would you attribute the increase in all these troubles to economics? Ergo to sanctions?

Behzard: It is likely a big social aisle which is coming to a peak.

Werman: mm-hmm.

Behzard: The economy, the social restrictions in addition to sanctions and people running away from religion, because religion now is the law. Everything creates a very tense society.

Werman: Behzard, I gather you have a teenage son. How hard is that to be negotiating with a teenager who wants to go out regularly? That’s got to be tough.

Behzard: The social restrictions that the government is putting on young people, is that every time the son goes out with his girlfriend, we are very afraid that they might catch them or beat them up or put them in jail. This is getting worse every day, and these are really really worrying me as a father.

Werman: Behzard is not his real name. He’s an Iranian entrepreneur who lives in Tehran. Thank you so much Behzard and good luck.

Behzard: Thank you very much for having me.

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