Despite Iran's strict Islamic laws, increasing numbers of young couples are choosing to live together before marriage. It has become so prevalent that the office of the Supreme Leader has issued a statement expressing deep disapproval

A hard-line former chief prosecutor of Tehran has been disbarred and banned for five years from all positions in the Iranian government. The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling which found that Saeed Mortazavi ordered the torture of at least three protesters who died in custody in 2009. He rejected the accusations. Until his trial last year, he was head of Iran's social welfare organisation. Mr Mortazavi, 46, has been fiercely criticised by reformists. He played a dominant role in the judiciary from 2003 when he was appointed chief prosecutor general Tehran until 2009, when the government put down student protests against the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Iranian police have arrested four men suspected of involvement in multiple acid attacks against women last week. Reports suggest there have been at least four such attacks in Isfahan, Iran's third-largest city. Others place the figure as high as 11.  Hardliners within Iran's conservative-dominated parliament have been trying for the past few months to pass a bill that would protect vigilantes trying to enforce Islamic law.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has criticised the US for new sanctions, saying they are "not compatible" with the spirit of current negotiations. Speaking on Iranian TV, he said Iran was still committed to continuing nuclear talks with the US and five other international powers. New sanctions on 25 firms and individuals were announced in Washington on Friday.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has invited Iran to take part in preliminary Syrian peace talks this week in Switzerland, an offer Tehran has accepted. Mr Ban said he had received assurances that Iran would play a positive role in securing a transitional government. But Syria's main opposition group said it would withdraw from the talks unless Mr Ban retracted the offer to Iran.