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India Arrests 9 Qaeda Militants Planning Attack in New Delhi

An Indian Army soldier displays a seized rifle during a news conference in Srinagar, August 2, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Ismail
An Indian Army soldier displays a seized rifle during a news conference in Srinagar, August 2, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Ismail
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India Arrests 9 Qaeda Militants Planning Attack in New Delhi

An Indian Army soldier displays a seized rifle during a news conference in Srinagar, August 2, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Ismail
An Indian Army soldier displays a seized rifle during a news conference in Srinagar, August 2, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Ismail

India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Saturday it has arrested nine al-Qaeda militants who were planning attacks in several locations including the capital New Delhi.

"The group was planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital installations in India with an aim to kill innocent people and strike terror in their minds," the country's main counter-terrorism arm said in a statement.

Those arrested "were motivated to undertake attacks at multiple places" including the capital region, Reuters reported.

Six of the militants were arrested in the eastern state of West Bengal and while three in the southern state of Kerala, the NIA said, adding the individuals were "associated with Pakistan sponsored module of al Qaeda".

The militants will be produced in court for police custody and further investigation.

India has stepped up an offensive against militants in Kashmir and elsewhere. Last year, Indian forces killed the leader of an al Qaeda-affiliated militant group.

In the latest raids, the NIA seized sharp weapons, domestically made firearms and locally fabricated body armor.

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Iran Pauses Process to Implement Stricter Headscarf Law for Women, Official Says

FILE - Iranian women, some without wearing their mandatory headscarves, walk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Iranian women, some without wearing their mandatory headscarves, walk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
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Iran Pauses Process to Implement Stricter Headscarf Law for Women, Official Says

FILE - Iranian women, some without wearing their mandatory headscarves, walk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Iranian women, some without wearing their mandatory headscarves, walk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Iran has paused the process of implementing a new, stricter law on women’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, an official said.

The controversial law, which was approved by the parliament in September 2023, will not be sent to the government as planned this week, according to one of the country's vice presidents. The development effectively means that Iran has halted enacting the legislation.

The law levies harsher punishments for women who refuse to wear the hijab and for businesses that serve them, penalties previously rejected by Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian as he tries to restart talks with the West over sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program.

“According to the discussions held, it was decided that this law will not be referred to the government by the parliament for now,” Shahram Dabiri, the vice president in charge of parliamentary affairs, was quoted as saying in an interview Monday with the pro-reform Ham Mihan daily.

The decision to halt the legislation — at least temporarily — was reached by top executive, legislative and judiciary bodies, The Associated Press quoted Dabiri as saying. At the moment, it is “not feasible to implement this bill,” he added, without elaborating.

Had the bill passed to the government, Iran's president would have had little room to maneuver. By law, he’s required to endorse the bill within five days, after which it would have taken effect in 15 days. The president has no authority to veto it.

Pezeshkian could try to convince Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all matters of state, to halt the bill.

If the bill had been enacted, Pezeshkian could also refuse to act on it or urge police not to enforce it, setting up a potential constitutional crisis that hard-liners could try to exploit to weaken him.

The president had earlier described the law as having “many questions and ambiguities.”