Read More Atheist Republic Hundreds of schoolgirls in Iran’s holy city of Qom have been hospitalized after feeling sick in recent months. A minister also confirmed they were poisoned to keep them out of schools.
After authorities initially launched an investigation and said there was no evidence of poison, Iran’s deputy health minister Younes Panahi implicitly confirmed in a press conference that the girls were deliberately poisoned.
Schoolgirls were poisoned in several cities across Iran today. Hundreds of girls have been poisoned since November. pic.twitter.com/dUCzDePFRi
— Parham Ghobadi (@BBCParham) March 1, 2023
“After the poisoning of several students in Qom schools, it was found that some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed,” Panahi said last Sunday. “It has been revealed that the chemical compounds used to poison students are not war chemicals, and the poisoned students do not need aggressive treatment, and a large percentage of the chemical agents used are treatable.”
Iranian schoolgirls are being poisoned, apparently by people who, Taliban style, want to close girls’ schools. https://t.co/pLKS1Hk6xZ
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) March 1, 2023
However, Panahi failed to provide more details about the incident and did not give further information regarding the perpetrators, even if he revealed their possible motives.
A member of the health committee of the Iranian parliament, Homayoun Sameh Najafabadi, also confirmed that the poisoning of schoolgirls in Qom and other cities in Iran was intentional.
These statements contradicted what Iran’s education minister Youssef Nouri said about the incidents, calling them “rumors” and saying that the hospitalized girls had “underlying diseases.”
Hundreds of #Iranian schoolgirls have been poisoned over the last three months.So far, instead of investigating these incidences the Iranian authorities appear to be downplaying their seriousness.https://t.co/s2AUDVHA9H pic.twitter.com/Fhtrw8kZGF
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) March 3, 2023
Although the poisonings started in Qom in late November, other cities in Iran, including the capital, reported similar incidents, with dozens of schools being targeted and hundreds of students being hospitalized.
Knock knock world, do you hear us? Our school girls are being poisoned with an unknown substance by the Islamic Regime. The deliberate poisoning started in Qom and it’s expanding to other cities. Over thousand girls have been poisoned and hospitalized. #saveiranianschoolgirls pic.twitter.com/adOBsKsyhJ
— 100f (@1hundredf) February 28, 2023
The victims, mostly girls, experienced symptoms of nausea, headaches, difficulty breathing, coughing, and heart palpitations.
“I can’t breathe!”Today, March 1, 2023. Poisoning of students in Tehran.pic.twitter.com/3SAdXNVMfQ
— 1500tasvir_en (@1500tasvir_en) March 1, 2023
Majid Monemi, the deputy governor of Lorestan in northwestern Iran, reported last Sunday that 50 girls at a high school in Borujerd were poisoned.
No one has been arrested for the poisoning incidents. However, local media suggest that the chain poisoning of schoolgirls has been the work of radical Shia fundamentalists who believe women should not receive an education.
The first group to claim responsibility was Fadaiyan Velayat, which published a now-deleted statement on an Iranian social media site regarding the poisonings. Another group that could be responsible for the incidents is Hezaregara Shias, according to university professor Mohammad Taqi Fazel Meybodi, who also said the group had a significant presence in Qom and Borujerd.
The Islamic Republic is working to find who caused the poisonings, according to the spokesperson Ali Bahadori Jahromi. Chief prosecutor Mohammad Jafar Montazeri also ordered a judicial probe into the attacks.
Not surprisingly, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raiasi is blaming “foreign enemies.”
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi blames foreign enemies for schoolgirl poisonings https://t.co/2DwxauVZbU pic.twitter.com/MmHKgVD4hi
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 3, 2023
Nevertheless, the victims’ parents protested against the government’s lack of action. Some also gathered outside the governorate of Qom, demanding an explanation from education officials. They also chanted slogans such as “we don’t want unsafe schools” and “schools must be secured.”
Feb. 14 – Qom, north central #Iran The families of girl students who were poisoned while in school rallied outside the Governor’s office today. Numerous students in a at least 12 girls’ schools were poisoned with an unknown gas in the past weeks in Qom. pic.twitter.com/1A5LnPI1i9
— Iran News Wire (@IranNW) February 14, 2023
A video was also posted on Reddit showing a mother fighting an alleged supporter of the Iranian regime for saying that the poisoning was the work of Israel.