By Ali Akbar Dareini
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2001; 4:52 p.m. EDT

TEHRAN, Iran –– Fourteen men, their backs bare, were flogged in public Tuesday on charges of drinking alcohol, an offense against Islamic law. Each got 80 lashes.

An official called the name of each man, and a soldier whipped his back and shoulders.

More than 1,000 people in Tehran's Vali-e-Asr Square watched the lashings, many in distress.

"This is an uncivilized way to fight social vices. This is very cruel. Such punishments only create public hatred," said filmmaker Roya Pouya, 30.

The floggings increased the number of people lashed in public in the last four days to 20.

Public floggings had become rare in Iran but have increased sharply in recent weeks with dozens of people whipped in Tehran for drinking alcohol, harassing women and having sex outside of marriage.

Ali Monzavi, 24, his shoulders and back swollen and bleeding, said he received 80 lashes for consuming one glass of alcohol.

Pale and in pain, he denounced his sentence and said the punishment only created hatred in his heart.

But spectator Hasan Bahadori said the punishment was a lesson for others not to commit such sins. "They would have not been punished if they had not violated the law. So, they deserve it," he said.

Last week, the reformist-led Interior Ministry denounced a recent increase in public floggings as harmful to Iran's international image.

Iran imposes a strict interpretation of Islam that forbids alcohol and limits interaction between unrelated men and women.