Tehran: An Iranian semi-official news agency says the country has opened its first, state-run alcoholism rehab and treatment centre.
A report on Friday by the ISNA news agency says Iran`s first alcoholism treatment centre was inaugurated in at the Tehran University`s Medical School.
The report quotes Dr Mohammad Reza Sargolzaiee as saying the centre opened "following an increase in alcohol use among Iranians."
Drinking alcohol is illegal for Muslims under Iran`s strict Islamic teachings but there is open violation of the law. And even though there is widespread consumption of alcohol, there are no firm statistics available on how prevalent alcoholism is in the officially booze-free nation.
In February 2013, Iran`s police chief Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqaddam said that there are about 200,000 people in Iran addicted to alcohol.
