/ 20 November 2006

Enraged neighbour torches Iranian party animal’s car

An Iranian man set a neighbour’s luxury car ablaze to stop him from throwing parties and entertaining poorly veiled women, a newspaper reported on Monday.

“Every night, my neighbour had parties and invited badly veiled women … I burned his car to teach him a lesson,” said the 24-year-old arsonist, identified only as Soheil, according to the Etemad-Melli newspaper.

“I had warned him several times but he did not listen,” he said after his arrest for torching the $40 000 Nissan sedan — one of the most coveted cars in Iran.

The man could face six months to three years in jail, the report said.

Under Iranian law, people are banned from holding parties with unrelated men and women socialising without respecting the Islamic dress code, which requires women to cover their hair and body.

Police often raid parties and offenders can face lashes and hefty fines. — AFP