Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has spoken publicly for the first time about the poisoning of over 1,000 schoolgirls and declared that those responsible should be sentenced to death for committing an ‘unforgivable crime’ if it is proven that the attacks were deliberate.
The poisonings began in Qom, south of Tehran, but have now been reported throughout the country, including at schools in the capital.
The majority of those affected are girls, with some requiring hospital treatment. Iranian officials have only acknowledged the incidents in recent weeks and have provided no details on who may be behind the attacks or what chemicals have been used.
Unlike neighbouring Afghanistan, Iran has no history of religious extremists targeting women’s education. However, the suspected attacks have been seen by some commentators as part of an extremist response to the protests led by women and girls that have swept Iran in recent months.
Protests were sparked across the country and the world following the death of Mahsa Amini, who died under suspicious circumstances in police custody in September. Fresh protests against the suspected poisonings were seen in Iran and worldwide over the weekend.
Since November, authorities have acknowledged suspected poisoning attacks at more than 50 schools across 21 of Iran’s 30 provinces.
Iran’s interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi, said over the weekend that ‘suspicious samples’ had been gathered by investigators. He called on the public to remain calm and accused unnamed enemies of inciting fear to undermine the Islamic Republic.
Mr Vahidi said at least 52 schools had been affected by suspected poisonings, while Iranian media reports have put the number of schools at over 60. At least one boys’ school has also been affected.
Iran has imposed stringent restrictions on independent media since the outbreak of nationwide protests in September, making it difficult to determine the nature and scope of the suspected poisonings.
On Monday, Iranian media reported that authorities arrested a Qom-based journalist, Ali Pourtabatabaei, who regularly reported the suspected poisonings. Religious hard-liners in Iran have been known to attack women they perceive dressing immodestly in public. But even at the height of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, women and girls continued to attend schools and universities.
The children affected by the poisonings have reportedly complained of headaches, heart palpitations, lethargy, or inability to move. Some described smelling tangerines, chlorine or cleaning agents.
Mr Vahidi, the interior minister, said in his statement that two girls remain in the hospital because of underlying chronic conditions. There have been no reported fatalities. State media have mainly referred to the incidents as ‘hysteric reactions’.
The World Health Organisation documented a similar phenomenon in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2012, when hundreds of girls across the country complained of strange smells and poisoning. No evidence supported the suspicions, and the WHO said it appeared to be ‘mass psychogenic illnesses’.
»Ayatollah speaks about the mass poisoning of 1,000 schoolgirls«
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