News in Brief
A series of acid attacks on women in the historic Iranian city of Isfahan has raised fears and prompted rumours that the victims were targeted for not being properly veiled.
Police have declined to comment on a motive but suspects have been arrested and an investigation is ongoing, General Hossein Ashtari was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
He said four acid attacks had been reported in Isfahan, 450 kms (280 miles) south of Tehran, but he gave no other details.
The violence led to chatter on social networks that there had been up to 13 acid attacks against women drivers who were “badly veiled” with accompanying warnings against leaving car windows open.
Such incidents have risen in recent years in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, with the abusers claiming they punished women for “sullying” their family “honour” by committing “indecent” behaviour. (AFP) Iran bans rights lawyer: An Iranian court has banned a prominent human rights lawyer from practicing her profession for three years, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported Sunday.
Nasrin Sotoudeh told ISNA that the Bar Association had been under pressure to cancel her license since she was released from jail last year. She said she had requested that the association delay any decision until the pressure diminished, without elaborating.
She said she would not challenge the decision. “The Bar Association is my home and I will never appeal against my home,” she said.
Sotoudeh, a mother of two, was sentenced to six years in prison in 2011 on charges of spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security. She was granted an early release in September 2013, three months after the election of moderate President Hassan Rouhani.
The rights lawyer, who has defended opposition activists and juveniles facing the death penalty, was awarded the European Parliament Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2012 along with another Iranian activist. (AP) Yaalon visits US: Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon sought to calm fresh tensions with Washington on Sunday as he began a five-day trip to the United States.
In a statement released ahead of his departure, Yaalon warned that no dispute should be allowed to “cast a shadow” over Israel’s crucial relationship with its closest ally.
“The relationship between the United States and Israel is based on shared interests and values, and disputes of one sort or another must not cast a shadow over it,” he said.
On Friday, two senior Israeli cabinet ministers took aim at US Secretary of State John Kerry over remarks linking the growth of Islamic extremism to Israel’s decades-long conflict with the Palestinians. (AFP) Al-Thani meets Le Drian: Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani met visiting French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his accompanying delegation here on Sunday.
During the meeting, they discussed relations of cooperation between Qatar and France and ways and means of developing and reinforcing bilateral cooperation, in addition to the latest regional and international developments, Qatar’s official news agency, QNA reported. (KUNA) Tourists surge in Iran: The number of foreigners visiting Iran jumped dramatically over the 12-month period ending in March, with 35 percent more tourists compared to the same period a year earlier, Iran’s top tourism official said Saturday.
Masoud Soltanifar said on state TV that the thriving industry could help boost Iran’s economy out of recession and bring in much-needed hard currency. He said 4.5 million foreign tourists that came to the Islamic Republic over the period, bringing in some $6 billion in revenue.
He attributed the increase to the 2013 election of President Hassan Rouhani, who has shifted away from the bombastic style adopted under his hard-line predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rouhani, who has advocated for tourism, hopes it will boost the country’s image.
“The new government has employed a proper language in international relations, leading to growth in tourism,” Soltanifar said, adding that foreign tourists, most of whom are from neighboring countries, spend about $1,500 each in Iran. (AP)