Fake Alcohol Consumption Claims Six Lives in Iran

Reports from Iran indicate that six people in the northern provinces of Iran have died after consuming "fake alcoholic beverages." The state news agency IRNA announced on Sunday, October 8, that four of these individuals died in Gilan province and two in Mazandaran province. Three others are hospitalized due to the consumption of fake alcohol. Mohammad Taghi Ashoubi, the head of Gilan University of Medical Sciences, told the news agency that a total of 20 people in the province have been poisoned due to consuming ethanol or methanol, among whom four individuals aged between 22 and 40 have died from poisoning. According to the head of Gilan University of Medical Sciences, other individuals are currently hospitalized, with six of them reported to be in critical condition. The production and consumption of alcoholic beverages have been banned since the 1979 revolution in Iran, and since then, alcohol has been traded illegally in the black market, with no quality control, often with methanol added as a cheaper substitute for ethanol. During the COVID pandemic, at least 210 people in Iran died from drinking fake alcohol, as some mistakenly believed that consuming alcohol was beneficial for treating COVID-19 patients. Only members of the Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian minorities in Iran are exempt from the alcohol ban, and foreigners are also required to comply with the prohibition on alcohol use in the country. In June 2024, the head of the judiciary in Alborz announced the issuance of death sentences for four individuals for distributing "deadly alcoholic beverages" in Karaj. This case involved individuals who, according to judicial and health officials in Karaj, a year earlier caused the death of 17 people and the poisoning of 191 others due to the distribution of fake alcohol.