The wrong side of the carpet Beer, booze and popsicles: the Iranian beverage market
A quarter of a century after the Islamic revolution Iran is to increase its output of alcohol-free beer. Are the Ayatollahs finally caving in to popular demand? Or are they just following the time-honoured principle of rule by distraction? Call them pragmatists or cynics or both - in Iran everything has two sides.
It’s an eerie place, the late Shah’s White Palace in northern Tehran. Built by his father Reza Shah in 1936 the two-storey building with its 54 rooms must be one of the icons of 20th century power architecture. Think Albert Speer’s Berlin, Mussolini’s Rome, Ceausescu’s Palace of the People or Thatcher’s London Docklands and you’ll get the picture. In Tehran that happened 25 years ago..
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