Jordan Announces Smoking Crackdown in Virus Fight

The World Health Organization has long ranked Jordan's 10 million inhabitants among the world's biggest smokers | AFP
The World Health Organization has long ranked Jordan's 10 million inhabitants among the world's biggest smokers | AFP
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Jordan Announces Smoking Crackdown in Virus Fight

The World Health Organization has long ranked Jordan's 10 million inhabitants among the world's biggest smokers | AFP
The World Health Organization has long ranked Jordan's 10 million inhabitants among the world's biggest smokers | AFP

Jordan has extended a ban on cigarettes in closed public spaces to all forms of smoking, citing the fight against COVID-19 in a country with one of the world's highest smoking rates.

"In order to protect the health and safety of citizens, especially given the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, smoking of all forms (cigarettes, electronic cigarettes and shisha) is banned in closed public places," the health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The World Health Organization has long ranked Jordan's 10 million inhabitants among the world's biggest smokers.

The Guardian last month published figures showing that the kingdom had surpassed Indonesia to have the highest smoking rates in the world, with more than eight out of 10 men regularly smoking or otherwise consuming nicotine.

Citing the WHO, the health ministry said that "smokers and passive smokers are more vulnerable to being infected by COVID-19, with stronger symptoms".

Jordan has registered 1,133 cases of the COVID-19 illness, including nine deaths.

The kingdom introduced a cigarette ban in public places in 2008, but the new regulations cover electronic cigarettes and shisha waterpipes popular in the region.

However they only apply in "fully closed" public areas.

"The decision doesn't bother me much because I don't smoke arghileh (shisha) in closed places," said waterpipe enthusiast Khaled al-Shamhuri.

"The smoking ban in public places is old but wasn't enforced."

Coffee shop employee Hassan al-Shadfan said the new rules would "negatively affect us".

"The cafe is a closed space and most clients don't just come to eat or drink tea and coffee, most smoke arghileh," he said.

But Ahmad Rubbaa, owner of a cafeteria selling cigarettes, was less concerned.

"A smoker is a smoker wherever they are, no law can stop them," he said.

"I don't think this will affect tobacco sales."



Iraq Sends Delegation to Damascus to Study Restoring Oil Pipeline Via Syria

A worker walks at the Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq (Reuters file photo)
A worker walks at the Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq (Reuters file photo)
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Iraq Sends Delegation to Damascus to Study Restoring Oil Pipeline Via Syria

A worker walks at the Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq (Reuters file photo)
A worker walks at the Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq (Reuters file photo)

Iraq sent a delegation to Damascus on Friday to study the possibility of restoring an Iraqi oil pipeline that transports oil through Syria to Mediterranean ports, the prime minister's office said. The Iraqi delegation, led by the head of the National Intelligence Service, is also set to discuss counter-terrorism cooperation, border security and ways to expand trade between the two countries, the office added. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani held talks with Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Qatar this month, marking their first meeting since the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad in December after more than 13 years of civil war, Reuters said. Syria is facing a severe energy crisis after the collapse of its oil industry during civil war and is now turning to local intermediaries for oil imports. Its efforts to secure oil through public tenders have been largely unsuccessful owing to international sanctions and financial risks.