Iran Suspends Reuters, Iranian Female Ninjas Suing For Defamation

**W. Rabbit** · Posted On: 3/29/2012 11:41pm

Oh you just can't make **** like this up when it comes to those wacky, humorless hard line governments.

Iran suspends accreditation for Reuters in Tehran

Language issues...ninjas...assassins. Come on Iran...

I think this story should serve as a lesson:

Please, don't encourage ninjas.

(Reuters) - The Iranian government has suspended the press accreditation for Reuters staff in Tehran after the publication of a video story on women's martial arts training which contained an error.

Reuters, the news arm of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information group, corrected the story after the martial arts club where the video was filmed made a complaint.

The story's headline, "Thousands of female Ninjas train as Iran's assassins", was corrected to read "Three thousand women Ninjas train in Iran".

Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance subsequently contacted the Reuters Tehran bureau chief about the video and its publication, as a result of which Reuters' 11 personnel were told to hand back their press cards.

But then it got so much better: The Female Ninjas are suing Reuters:

Iran Female Ninjas Suing Reuters For Defamation, Says Iranian State TV

So let me get this straight....when the history books are written, the history of Womens's Rights in the Middle East will include tales of Iranian lady ninjas?

Women are barred from many sports activities in the Islamic Republic due to the country's restrictive moral codes, a point of ongoing contention between the country's restless young female population and the authorities.

It may be why the government has invested so much in areas like martial arts in recent years, with Ninjutsu clubs throughout Iran supervised directly by the Ministry of Sports' Martial Arts Federation.

It's proven hugely popular. A traditional Japanese martial art that often focuses on guerrilla techniques like espionage and camouflage, Ninjutsu is practiced by some three thousand women throughout Iran, according to the UPI news agency.