Iranian serial killer Kolsoum Akbari, a 58-year-old woman convicted of murdering 11 former husbands over about 20 years by poisoning, was sentenced to 10 death penalties, Iranian media reported.
Born in 1967, Akbari allegedly used sedatives to kill her spouses, with the murders spanning the 1990s to the 2010s.
Arrested in September 2023 for attempting to murder her 82-year-old husband, she was caught after he grew suspicious and realized she was trying to kill him.
After several trial sessions, a court in Mazandaran in northern Iran sentenced Akbari to 10 death penalties.
Ten families demanded qisas (the eye-for-an-eye punishment, equivalent to the death penalty). The family of one victim agreed to forgo their right to qisas if she pays them blood money.
Akbari also received a 10-year sentence for an attempted murder.
She is the second known female serial killer in Iran, following Mahin Qadiri, who was executed in 2006 for murdering her seven husbands by poisoning them over 17 years.
The US state department on Monday announced it would limit the movement of Iran's delegation to the UN General Assembly annual meeting this week to prevent lavish shopping and the promotion of Tehran's "terrorist agenda."
"The United States took action this week to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime by restricting their UNGA delegation’s movement and access to wholesale club stores and luxury goods," the state department said in a statement.
"We will not allow the Iranian regime to allow its clerical elites to have a shopping spree in New York while the Iranian people endure poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and dire shortages of water and electricity."
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are set to attend high-level meetings at the UN starting September 22 in New York.
The 80th session of the UN General Assembly opened on September 9, with world leaders due to arrive in New York this week.
"Secretary Rubio is also restricting the Iranian delegation to the areas strictly necessary to transit to and from the UN headquarters district to conduct their official UN business," the state department added. "The security of Americans is always our priority," it said, vowing to bar Iran the ability "to promote its terrorist agenda".
The 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement requires the United States to grant visas to UN representatives, including world leaders, for UN-related activities in New York, with exceptions only for proven security threats.
Washington earlier this month revoked or denied visas for most Palestinian officials to attend the UNGA, in a move seen as a protest about Western allies' looming move to recognize a Palestinian state.
The state department said its move was made in solidarity with the Iranian people.
"When the United States says it stands with the people of Iran, we mean it. Today’s actions affirm the United States’ unwavering commitment to supporting the Iranian people in their pursuit of accountability for the regime and for a better life."
Cooperation between Iran and International Atomic Energy Agency cannot be severed if UN sanctions resume as expected in less than a week, the UN nuclear watchdog's chief said on Monday, after Tehran threatened to cut its ties with the IAEA.
“Snapback, which is going to have – if it happens – a huge impact in terms of economic sanctions and other things, it’s one process," Grossi said, referring to UN sanctions on Iran invoked by European states which are due to resume on Sept. 28.
"Then we have something which is the relationship between the IAEA and Iran, which, in principle, must be permanent and not be contingent on the snap back being activated,” he said in an interview with Al Jazeera English.
"There is an ongoing cooperation. Is it all that we would aspire to get? Not now, but we are, I hope, on a way to get more of that cooperation. And so time for diplomacy is needed, yes,” Grossi added.
Robust diplomatic efforts which involve the United States are afoot to resolve the impasse, the IAEA chief said.
“Iran, for one, has said that this might affect the relationship and the cooperation with us,” he said, adding that “there is so much diplomatic activity… between those countries, ourselves, the United States as well, to try to find a way forward.”
"We have to remind them that they have obligations if they want to continue to be a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)," Grossi said.
Israel and the United States attacked Iranian nuclear sites in a brief June war, setting back the nuclear program but leaving its fate unresolved. Tehran declined to allow IAEA inspectors to resume their work.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council warned on Saturday that the so-called snapback of UN sanctions could cause Tehran to end cooperation with the IAEA, amid calls by hardliners in Tehran for withdrawal from the NPT.
Dozens of Iranian lawmakers on Monday called for a fundamental shift in the country’s defense policy, urging authorities to consider building a nuclear weapon as a deterrent.
The United States and its European allies accuse Tehran of seeking the capability to produce nuclear arms, a charge Iran denies.
Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only and cites a religious injunction or fatwa from its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei against nuclear weapons as proof of its intentions.
Iran and Russia will sign an agreement this week for the construction of eight nuclear power plants, Iranian atomic energy chief Mohammad Eslami said on Monday during a visit to Moscow.
If finalized, the move would represent a strong signal of Russian support for the Islamic Republic's nuclear program amid growing military and diplomatic pressure.
Eslami, who is also a vice president in Iran, told state media that four of the reactors would be located at the Bushehr site in southern Iran, where the country’s only operating nuclear power plant is situated.
“The necessary negotiations and studies for the implementation of the second phase of this agreement have been completed, the land for the plants has been selected, prepared and equipped, and with the agreement that will be signed this week we will enter the operational stage,” Eslami said.
He added that site visits had already taken place and contractual talks concluded.
Eslami, who traveled to Moscow to meet officials and speak at Russia’s Nuclear Energy Week, said the project is part of Tehran’s long-term plan to expand nuclear capacity to 20 gigawatts by 2040.
Iran currently generates about 1 GW from its single Bushehr reactor, which was also built by Russia, and has faced recurring electricity shortages during peak demand.
Eslami's remarks comes as Britain, France and Germany (E3) push to reinstate UN sanctions, accusing Iran of violating a 2015 nuclear deal.
The 15-member UN Security Council on Friday rejected a draft resolution to permanently lift sanctions on Tehran. Russia, China and two others voted to do so.
Asked about the outlook for cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Eslami said: “We have always emphasized that these three European countries and the Zionist influence network should no longer damage the credibility of the United Nations and international organizations, and should allow these organizations to perform their duties fairly and professionally within the framework of regulations.”
Iran announced rare changes to its annual military parades, calling off at least two events over what it called security concerns and the need to prioritize military readiness.
The parades, traditionally held during Defense Week beginning on September 22, come this year in the aftermath of 12-day war with Israel in June that dealt the Islamic Republic one of its biggest ever military blows.
“Special programs this year will differ from previous years,” news outlet Tabnak cited Major General Soleiman Kamyabi, Deputy Chief of Human Resources for the General Staff of the Armed Forces, as saying.
Kamyabi said that honoring the martyrs of the Islamic Revolution, the eight-year Iran-Iraq War and “the 12-day imposed war” remains central to the commemorations.
Kurdistan province was the first to announce the cancellation of its parade. “No military parade will be held in Kurdistan this year,” Tasnim News quoted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Brigadier General Jamshid Rezaei as saying.
Instead, the IRGC will hold ceremonies to honor veterans, whom Rezaei credited for providing Iran’s “current security and stability.”
In Hamedan province in Western Iran, the IRGC made the same announcement, citing “emerging threats” and a desire to avoid large gatherings.
“Due to emerging threats, we will refrain from large gatherings and focus on defense readiness,” Khabar Online quoted Hossein Zare Kamali, the IRGC commander in Hamedan, as saying.
The cancellations highlight Iran’s military jitters amid heightened regional tensions, as Israeli military and civilian leaders have repeatedly said their armed quarrel with Iran may not be over.
During the June conflict, Israeli strikes killed nuclear scientists along with hundreds of military personnel and civilians. Iranian counterattacks killed 32 Israelis.
Iran's foreign minister on Monday said that there was still time for the West to solve its nuclear impasse with Iran through dialogue while the UN nuclear watchdog's head cited a "difficult" phase of talks with Tehran.
Abbas Araghchi, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, said he plans to meet the UN nuclear watchdog later today and will also hold meetings with three European counterparts to discuss the looming reimposition of UN sanctions they triggered last month.
“At different times, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been tested, and they know we do not respond to the language of pressure and threats," Araghchi was quoted by official media as saying. "Rather, we respond in the language of respect and dignity. If there is a solution, it is only a diplomatic one.”
Araghchi said consultations with France, Germany and the United Kingdom are ongoing, and noted that the United States is also involved “directly or indirectly,” without elaborating.
Two months of fruitless Iran-US talks over Tehran's disputed nuclear program culminated in a surprise Israeli military campaign against Iran in June which was capped off by US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites.
Following the attacks, Tehran suspended its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog. How to resume diplomacy and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections now remains a bone of contention between Iran and the West.
“We have emphasized our readiness for a diplomatic solution on the snapback mechanism, but one that secures Iran’s interests and addresses our security concerns,” Araghchi said. He warned Iran would take "the measures it must” if diplomacy fails.
UN sanctions on Iran, triggered through the so-called snapback mechanism by three European countries on August 28, are set to resume on September 28 after the UN Security Council rejected a resolution to keep the sanctions lifted in a 4–9 vote on September 19.
The sanctions would include an arms embargo, asset freezes and nuclear restrictions.
'Difficult juncture'
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi, also in New York, told AFP the current situation with Iran is at a “difficult juncture.”
“It’s obviously quite a difficult juncture. It’s a very difficult situation we are facing right now,” Grossi said, adding that a series of talks are scheduled while all parties are gathered at the UN.
Iran and the IAEA signed a technical agreement in Cairo on September 9, mediated by Egypt, to make progress toward resuming nuclear inspections halted in June.
Tehran has warned that the deal will be void if new attacks or sanctions occur, though it views the agreement as a step toward de-escalation.