Seventeenth victim in Iran 'serial' killings

Reports from Iran say the body of a woman - the 17th suspected victim in a series of identical murders - has been found in the north-eastern city of Mashhad.

The body of the 30-year-old woman, described in reports as a prostitute, was wrapped in a chador, the full-length black cloak worn by Iranian women.

Like previous victims, she had been strangled with her own headscarf.

Police have formed a special team to track down the individual or gang responsible for the killings over the past year.

All the women killed, who are aged between 27 and 50, are reported to have had a criminal record for drug abuse or prostitution.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service