An initiative is being discussed in the Iranian Parliament, based on which the prices of imported, joint venture and domestically produced cigarettes are to be increased by 19%, 12% and 40% respectively, according to Mohammad Hosein Barkhordar, CEO of Iranian Tobacco Company. Barkhordar believes the initiative, if passed will give rise to smuggling, IRNA reported. “Increasing prices with the aim of reducing smoking has formerly proven to be a futile attempt,” he said. Last year, 65 billion cigarettes were smoked in Iran, over 29 billion of which were locally produced and 16 billion legally imported.
