Gov’t Pays Blood Money for 2014 Isfahan Acid Attacks as Culprits Not Caught

“Unfortunately, the perpetrators were not eventually apprehended and a few people arrested at the time were later found to have played no role in the incident,” Hossein Abbasalizadeh said.

The lawyer said this is while the investigators left no rock unturned in search of the culprits.

“The province’s judicial and police authorities made every effort to find the perpetrators, and did not ignore any possibility,” he told Tasnim News Agency in an interview on Tuesday.

The lawyer said the victims have received blood money from the government, as the perpetrators have not yet been found.

Four year ago, a spate of acid throwing attacks on four to ten women in Isfahan led to widespread panic and nervousness in the city.

According to eye witnesses, the male attackers riding on motorbikes threw acid on faces of young women while shouting statements against the targeted women’s allegedly loose clothing.

Their statements led to rumors that the victims were chosen because they were wearing clothing that did not conform to Islamic norms and the assailants were motivated by religious motives.

The attacks came after a number of high-level clerics had publicly stated that effective enforcement of proper hijab must go beyond verbal warnings.

Just prior to the attacks, Isfahan’s Friday Prayers Leader Mohammad Taqi Rahbar gave a sermon suggesting women with “bad hijab” should be confronted by more than just words.

But authorities denied that the assaults had anything to do with the hijab, and some believe that the attacks were aimed at tarnishing the image of the Islamic Republic.

Acid attacks in Iran and other countries are usually linked to personal grudges.