TEHRAN: Authorities in Iran's Shiite Muslim clerical capital Qom have banned the use of hookah water pipes in public in a fresh crackdown on smokers, local media reported on Thursday, reports AFP. "Consuming tobacco or using hookah pipes are forbidden in coffee houses, traditional eateries, restaurants, cafes, hotels, hostels, parks and all other public places," prosecutor Mehedi Kahe said, semi-official news agency ISNA reported.
Kahe said the ban -- set to be made public in the next few days -- was taken on health grounds and warned that any establishments breaking the rules will be shuttered. Smoking tobacco in public places, except for in the street, has been officially forbidden in Iran since 2006, but the measure is often violated.
In 2008, the government reversed a plan to ban hugely popular hookah pipes in traditional coffeehouses after protests by owners who complained that it would deprive them of the vast bulk of their income. The city of Qom, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Tehran, is a major Shiite theological centre and one of the most conservative cities in Iran.
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Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron offered Thursday for France to mediate between the Iraqi government and Kurds seeking independence after a controversial referendum, reports AFP. Macron made the… 
Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
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Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.
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