Iranian women began talks with Islamic clerics to demand...

Iranian women began talks with Islamic clerics to demand that the "blood money" paid for a murdered woman should the same as for a man.
Under Iran's strict Shi'ite interpretation of Islam, compensation for the loss of a woman's life is half of that paid for a murdered man.
"We have sent letters to high-ranking clerics ... to have their opinions on equal blood money for a Muslim man and a Muslim woman," said woman parliamentarian Akram Mosavarimanesh.
A recent proposal to make compensation for families of murdered non-Muslims equal to that offered to Muslims has given the blood-money debate fresh impetus, said the group of women parliamentarians campaigning for the change.
Iran's penal code has kept an old Islamic definition of blood money as one of the following: 100 camels, 200 cows, 1,000 sheep, 200 silk dresses, 1,000 gold coins, or 10,000 silver coins. Authorities have set cash equivalents to simplify matters.
Iran's judiciary has set the amount that a killer can pay to his victim's family to avoid execution at a flat 150 million rials ($18,750) for a murdered man, and half of that for a woman.
Changing the legislation is a sensitive issue in Iran where all laws must be in accordance with Islamic principles.
"Some preparations have been made to get it approved, but it is clearly stipulated in the Koran that women get half blood money," a high-ranking cleric told Reuters.
Hard-line clerics' objections also stem from men's traditional role as breadwinners, meaning that the death of a man means a greater financial burden on the family.
But Iranian women, who enjoy better rights than in many other Middle Eastern countries, are now active members of the work force, filling many senior public and private-sector positions.
"By participation in society women have changed the economic conditions of their families. Most of them are responsible for covering family expenses," said Fatameh Rakei, head of the parliament's committee on women's issues.
One cleric empowered to issue religious decrees, Ayatollah Youssef Sanei, in 2001 openly supported the concept of equal blood money.
"Blood money is the price of a human life and the essence of life is driven from the soul," he said in the holy city of Qom. "The soul that God gave women is no less than the soul God gave men."
If the proposal is approved by parliament it must then be sent to the hard-line Guardian Council, which is responsible for ensuring that legislation conforms with Islamic sharia law.