The merchants themselves, mostly Christians from northern Iraq, prefer arak, an aniseed spirit.

ECONOMIST: Iraq and alcohol

But beware, warns Joey Arak, senior editor of Curbed NY.

BBC: Living in: New York

"The residency requirement for places like Trump SoHo is 120 days and it makes getting a mortgage tough - the building still has hundreds of unsold units, " said Arak.

BBC: Living in: New York

In 2003, cowed by the might deployed in removing Saddam Hussein, it opened up Natanz, and a nuclear reactor site at Arak that had also previously been secret, to IAEA inspection.

ECONOMIST: Nuclear diplomacy