DUBAI, March 4 (Reuters) – Worried parents protested in Iran‘s capital Tehran and other cities on Saturday over a wave of suspected poison attacks that have affected schoolgirls in dozens of schools, according to Iranian news agencies and social media videos.
Heartbreaking;
For about three months, schoolgirls in different cities of Iran, especially in the city of Qom, have been facing symptoms of poisoning after inhaling a smell similar to the smell of fruit. Many of them were taken to the hospital.
However, the authorities of… https://t.co/0VBbQ64FL7 pic.twitter.com/yJvCLvws8d
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) February 24, 2023
[aesop_image img=”https://kayhanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/chemical-attack-iranian-schools_March2023.jpg” panorama=”off” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”Hundreds of Iranian girls in different schools have suffered poison-chemical attacks over recent months, the health minister said this week. KL/
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Never-ending nightmare in Iran as Islamic Republic continues to unleash its wrath poisoning more than 1000 schoolgirls with unknown chemical compounds in their schools. Hundreds hospitalized with respiratory, cardiac & neurological symptoms.#MahsaAmini #SaveIranianSchoolgirls pic.twitter.com/REVzh5tNSs
— Dr. Nina Ansary (@drninaansary) March 2, 2023
Schoolgirls chanting in Tehran today …. “They are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy is right here."#Iran #poisoning #Schoolgirls
(Video obtained by Reuters) pic.twitter.com/cuRRLHTtQS— Asieh Namdar (@asiehnamdar) March 4, 2023
The so-far unexplained illnesses have affected hundreds of schoolgirls in recent months. Iranian officials believe the girls may have been poisoned and have blamed Tehran’s enemies.
The country’s health minister has said the girls have suffered “mild poison” attacks and some politicians have suggested the girls could have been targeted by hardline Islamist groups opposed to girls’ education.
[aesop_image img=”https://kayhanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-03-02T000000Z_557575107_MT1NURPHO00008VJPJ_RTRMADP_3_USA-NEWS.jpg” panorama=”off” credit=”People participate in a protest at the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the poisonings of school girls in Iran. The attacks have taken place over the last few months, sending hundreds of girls to the hospital in at least ten cities. REUTERS./” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
Sickness affected more than 30 schools in at least 10 of Iran‘s 31 provinces on Saturday. Videos posted on social media showed parents gathered at schools to take their children home and some students being taken to hospitals by ambulance or buses.
A gathering of parents outside an Education Ministry building in western Tehran on Saturday to protest over the illnesses turned into an anti-government demonstration, according to a video verified by Reuters.
“Basij, Guards, you are our Daesh,” protesters chanted, likening the Revolutionary Guards and other security forces to the Islamic State group.
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Similar protests were held in two other areas in Tehran and other cities including Isfahan and Rasht, according to unverified videos.
The outbreak of schoolgirl sickness comes at a critical time for Iran‘s clerical rulers, who have faced months of anti-government protests sparked by the death of a young Iranian woman in the custody of the morality police who enforce strict dress codes.
Social media posts in recent days have shown photos and videos of girls who have fallen ill, feeling nauseaous or suffering heart palpitations. Others complained of headaches. Reuters could not verify the posts.
The United Nations human rights office in Geneva called on Friday for a transparent investigation into the suspected attacks and countries including Germany and the United States have voiced concern.
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Iran rejected what it views as foreign meddling and “hasty reactions” and said on Friday it was investigating the causes of the incidents.
“It is one of the immediate priorities of Iran‘s government to pursue this issue as quickly as possible and provide documented information to resolve the families’ concerns and to hold accountable the perpetrators and the causes,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani told state media.
Schoolgirls were active in the anti-government protests that began in September. They have removed their mandatory headscarves in classrooms, torn up pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and called for his death.
(Reporting by Dubai newsroom.Editing by Frances Kerry)
