Iran has launched a major campaign to stem the flow of contraband cigarettes which account for 25% of imported smokes, a senior official says.�

The Central Task Force to Combat Smuggling of Commodities and Currency has started the �comprehensive campaign� to check the smuggling of 20 brands at Iranian borders up to distribution on store counters, its head Mojtaba Khosro-Taj said Sunday.

Iranians puff on 65 billion sticks of cigarettes a year, with contraband supplies having a big share in the bad habit. According to official figures, 24 billion sticks are smuggled annually into the country where US brands make up the bulk of the imports.

Up to 6-7 billion Marlboro cigarettes, made by Philip Morris USA, are annually used in Iran which translates into imports of three truckloads per week, the ISNA news agency said in May.

US Senator John McCain sparked a controversy with a tongue-in-cheek comment in 2008 about rising US cigarette exports to Iran�when he said, �It may be a way of killing �em.� The anti-Iran politician said later that he meant it �as a joke�.

By Press TV