Say it with roses

A "stingy" husband has received a court order forcing him to buy his neglected wife 124,000 red roses.The ruling was issued by an Iranian court, although - unlike most rulings on gender issues in the country - it will no doubt be cheered by women worldwide.

Iran's Etemad newspaper reports that the woman - known only by her first name, Hengameh - decided to claim her mahr, or dowry, after ten years of marriage as a way of punishing her husband's tight grip on the family purse-strings.

"Shortly after marriage I realised that Shahin was very cheap. He even refused to pay for my coffee if we went to a cafe or restaurant," she said.

A long-stemmed rose in the Islamic Republic costs 20,000 rials, or a little over £1 - so the full bouquet, if such a vast array can be so called, will weigh in at around £134,000($265,000).

Under Iranian law mahr, offered by the man to the woman at the time of marriage, can be claimed at any time during married life or divorce proceedings. Most common offerings are gold coins or property, sometimes up to hundreds of thousands of pounds in value.

It is unclear from reports whether a floral alternative is commonly used.

Iranian authorities have seized Hengameh's husband's apartment - worth 600 million rials or around £32,500 - until he has bought her all 124,000.