Price hike sets off pistachio boycott

TEHRAN — This should be the time of year that nut shop owners count their profits, after the recent Persian new year holiday when Iranians scarf up huge amounts of their iconic snack, pistachios.

Instead, they are staring at piles of unsold nuts as a Facebook- driven boycott has taken off, protesting prices that more than doubled in recent months.

The government, which usually tries to contain Iranians’ anger over the economy, has heartily backed the boycott — for reasons tied to the Western-led sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program.

Pistachio exports provide a small but important pipeline for foreign revenue at a time when sanctions are squeezing Iran’s oil and gas sales. Authorities say fewer nuts eaten at home means more available to sell abroad.

Meanwhile, an Iranian confectioner has made five tons of ice cream in hopes of setting a new world record for the largest tub of the dessert.

Wire services Badam Zari (second from right) leaves the election office after filing her candidacy for Parliament in Khar, capital of the Pakistani tribal area of Bajur, on Monday. The 40-year- old Pakistani housewife has made history by becoming the first woman to run for parliament from the country’s northwest tribal region, a highly conservative area that is a haven for Islamist militants.