Iran strangler strikes again

Victims were choked to death with their headscarves

Iranian police have discovered the corpse of another prostitute, just hours after they arrested a man in connection with a string of murders that have shocked the eastern town of Mashhad.

The latest killing brings to 12 the number of victims in the city since last July - most of them strangled with their headscarves and wrapped in their black cloaks, or chadors.

The suspect, an unnamed 22-year-old man, has denied any involvement, but is quoted as saying he was completely in favour of the killings and that Iranian society needed to be "cleansed of corrupt women."

Judicial authorities have formed a special task force to investigate the killings.

Religious motive suspected

Police said the latest victim, identified only as Ozra, had a record of crimes "in the fields of immorality."

Women struggle for a role under Iran's male-dominated Islamic system

Her body is reported to have been found in a ditch on Friday, by a group of boys playing football on a nearby waste ground.

Ozra was strangled in much the same way as previous victims, who all had criminal records for prostitution or drug-dealing.

All the women were between the ages of 27 and 50, and showed no sign of sexual abuse, according to officials.

They suspect a religious motive, and are investigating whether the crimes are linked with the murders of seven brothel-keepers killed in the same way in the nearby town of Bojnourd two years ago.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Tehran says the whole affair has highlighted a growing social problem which is becoming increasingly acknowledged in Iran.

Women who fall foul of the system in a male-dominated society often find themselves with no other way to make money and survive.

Prostitution has become widespread, hand-in-hand with worsening economic conditions, rising drug abuse and crime.