Poisoned attacks on girls in Iran

The frightening attacks, which mainly affected about 30 schools for girls and young women, come months after that protests Against the regime in the wake of 22 years Mahsa Zina Aminess He passed away last September.

As many as 400 students are said to have been affected by the poisoning, according to an article in the Persian daily Etela’at, whose editor-in-chief has been appointed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.

There is no information on the suspects, but the events have created concern that more girls may be affected simply because they have access to an education. Other than that, the education of girls and women has never been something that was questioned throughout the existence of the Islamic Republic.

I dismissed the rumours

The first suspected attacks took place in the city of Qom, southwest of Tehran, in November, when the students of the Conservatory fell ill. This was followed by several cases in different places in which school children complained of headaches, palpitations and other similar symptoms. Some of them reported smelling chlorine or detergents.

At first, the authorities did not link the cases, and the Minister of Education denied the suspicions, describing them as “rumours”.

After other similar events took place in Tehran, among others, the regime began to change its position and the Iranian public prosecutor recently opened an investigation because he believes it could be about “deliberate criminal acts”.

Keep the kids at home

On Sunday, the state-run IRNA news agency published several articles about the incidents, in which politicians and government employees said they were actual assaults.

– Yunus Panahi, a representative of the Iranian Health Authority, told Iran that after students in Qom were repeatedly poisoned, it turned out that some people wanted to close all schools, especially girls’ schools, without going into details.

In Qom, many schools have been effectively forced to close as a result of anxious parents who have chosen to keep their children at home in recent weeks, according to a report by the reformist news outlet Sharq.