Hundreds of girls from various schools in Iran have been poisoned by some kind of agent in their classrooms, the international press reported Tuesday.
Iranian authorities had not linked these incidents but are now investigating them as possible deliberate attacks that affected about 30 schools, according to local media, quoted by the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
There is speculation in the country that these attacks could be aimed at closing schools for girls in this Islamic theocracy of more than 80 million people.
The reported attacks come at a sensitive time in Iran, which has faced months of protests following the death of young Mahsa Amini following her arrest in September by the country’s vice squad.
Authorities have yet to identify the suspects, but recent attacks have raised fears that other girls may have been poisoned just for attending school.
The first cases appeared at the end of November in Qom, about 125 kilometers southwest of the Iranian capital Tehran. Students at Noor Yazdanshahr Conservatory fell ill in November and fell ill again in December.
Students complained of headaches, palpitations, lethargy and paralysis. Some students described a smell of tangerines, chlorine or detergents.
It is winter in Iran, where temperatures often drop below freezing at night. Many of the schools are heated with natural gas, leading to speculation that the poisonings could be due to carbon monoxide.
The country’s education minister initially dismissed the reports as rumours.
The schools affected were only for young women, raising suspicions that the cases were not accidental. At least one case occurred in Tehran, with others in Qom and Boroujerd. At least one boys’ school was also targeted.
Gradually, the authorities began to take these events seriously. Iran’s attorney general has ordered an investigation, saying “there are possibilities for deliberate criminal acts”. Iran’s Information Ministry is also reportedly investigating the matter.
On Sunday, the state news agency IRNA released several stories, with officials acknowledging the magnitude of the crisis.
“After several poisonings of students in Qom schools, it appeared that some people want all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed,” Younes Panahi, deputy health minister, told IRNA.
Health Ministry spokesman Pedram Pakaieen said the poisoning was not caused by a virus or microbe, but did not specify the source.
Ali Reza Monadi, a member of the national parliament who is part of the education committee, described the poisonings as “intentional”.
Activists worry that these actions could represent a new trend of attacks on human rights in the country, especially for women.
Source: DN
