Poisoning attacks targeting schoolgirls in Iran have been going on for months. The Iranian government said on the 5th (local time) that as many as 52 schools were targeted across the country.
The case of poisoning began at the end of November last year at a high school in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran. Over the next three months, hundreds of female students reported symptoms such as difficulty breathing, nausea and dizziness after detecting an unpleasant odor at school.
According to AFP, a female victim appeared on TV and said, “The smell spread rapidly, and I fell to the floor in dizziness.”
In the western city of Boroujerde, a student was poisoned and suffered excruciating chest pains and paralysis of his legs. An emergency room doctor at a city hospital said, “Most of the victims are showing symptoms such as headaches, respiratory problems, lethargy, nausea, and low blood pressure.”
Parents are terrified and urged the authorities to respond as the poisoning incidents of female students continued. Iranian state television reported that the mothers of the victims had asked the authorities to place security guards at the school gates and to activate surveillance cameras installed in the school.
Yones Panahi, Iran’s deputy health minister, speculated that the series of attacks were “aimed to stop girls from educating themselves”.
Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on the 4th that he had “found a suspicious sample” at the site of the damage, but did not provide a specific explanation.
Iran’s ISNA news agency, citing local health officials, said students in the western city of Abhar and in the southwestern city of Ahvaz were also affected by the recent poisoning.
Elementary school girls were also attacked in Zanjan in the west, the media added, with more cases reported in the holy city of Mashhad in the northeast, Isfahan in the center and Shiraz in the south.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raishi described the incident as “an enemy conspiracy to create a sense of fear and despair” and urged authorities to follow up.
Meanwhile, large-scale anti-government protests continued in Iran in September of last year due to the mysterious death of Mahsa Amini (female, 22), who was arrested by the local morality police for not wearing a hijab.
Women demanded promotion of women’s human rights and institutional reform through protests, and poisoning attacks continue in the midst of this, raising doubts about whether or not they are related.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.