Dozens of new Iranian students have been poisoned in at least five provinces of Iran after being transferred to hospitals in the region, a situation that brings the total number of cases to hundreds, local media reported this Saturday.
According to information from local news agencies Tasnim and Mehr, dozens of girls have been transferred to hospitals in Hamedan (west), Zanjan and west Azebaidjan (northwest), Fars (south) and Alborz (north) provinces.
According to the same information, the general health condition of these students, who suffer from breathing problems, dizziness or headache, is not considered serious, but this situation leads to hundreds of cases of gas poisoning in various schools in the country in the past three months, especially in the holy city of Qom.
The situation provoked the mobilization of parents of school-aged children, who called on the authorities to act.
On Friday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called on the interior ministries and the secret service to “unravel the conspiracy of the enemy to instill fear and despair in the population,” without specifying.
The Iranian government has also launched an investigation into the origin of the poisoning, but no arrests have been announced at this stage.
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 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.
Source: DN
