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Iran's "Death Trap" Cars
(Ha'aretz) Zvi Bar'el - Iran's automotive market is controlled by two manufacturing monopolies, Iran Khodro and Saipa, which together produce 1.5 million vehicles a year. The basis for building these cars is old infrastructure designed for Citroen and Peugeot. These cars do not meet any safety standards and their computerized components are minimal. They emit smoke and poisonous gases and are responsible for the high numbers of traffic accidents in the country, constituting over 5% of all deaths in Iran. Saipa's Pride model has earned the name "Death Trap" because of the large number of accidents it is involved in. In November, Tehran and Moscow signed a memorandum of understanding for Russia to buy 30,000 cars from Iran for $300 million.