Iranian girls are POISONED in a bid to force them to stop attending school as ‘revenge’ for protests against the hijab

• Since late November, hundreds of cases of respiratory poisoning have been reported among schoolgirls, mainly in Qom
• On Sunday deputy health minister Younes Panahi implicitly confirmed poisonings had been deliberate

Iranian authorities have confirmed they are investigating reports that several schoolgirls have been poisoned as ‘revenge’ for the part young women played in recent demonstrations against the compulsory hijab.

Iran’s deputy education minister, Younes Panahi, told reporters on Sunday: ‘After the poisoning of several students in [the city of] Qom … it was found that some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed.’

He added: ‘It has been revealed that the chemical compounds used to poison students are not war chemicals … the poisoned students do not need aggressive treatment and a large percentage of the chemical agents used are treatable.’

Since late November, hundreds of cases of respiratory poisoning have been reported among schoolgirls, mainly in the holy city of Qom, around 85 miles south of the capital Tehran, with some requiring hospital treatment.

So far, there have been no arrests linked to the poisonings.

Qom (file photo). Since late November, hundreds of cases of respiratory poisoning have been reported among schoolgirls, mainly in the holy city of Qom, around 85 miles south of the capital Tehran, with some requiring hospital treatment

On February 14, parents of students who had been ill gathered outside the city’s governorate to ‘demand an explanation’ from the authorities, IRNA reported.

The following day government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said the education and intelligence ministries were trying to find the cause of the poisonings.

Last week, Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri ordered a judicial probe into the incidents. 

Iran has been hit by protests since the September 16 death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini for an alleged violation of the nation’s strict dress code for women.

Dr Homayoun Sameyah Najafabadi, a member of the parliament’s health commission, also confirmed the poisoning of the students ‘in cities such as Qom and Borujerd has been done intentionally’.

Speaking to the Guardian on condition of anonymity, a doctor who specialises in the treatment of poisoning victims said: ‘With the data that’s available, the most probable cause of this poisoning could be a weak organophosphate agent. Even if some of the poisoned pupils show a sign of severe sweating, excess salivation, vomiting, intestinal hypermotility and diarrhoea, then the attack was done using this agent.’

The doctor said they believed the aim was to ‘scare the protesters by using extremist groups [radical Islamists] inside and outside the country’. 

The doctor added: ‘They want to take revenge on schoolgirls who are the pioneers of the recent protests.

‘Never before have I treated someone who was poisoned with organophosphate agents. The only cases I treated were workers who were exposed to these agents in agricultural pesticides.’

The poisonings have resulted in girls avoiding school. 

A teacher from Qom told Radio Farda that only 50 of 250 students attended classes.

Last week, parents demonstrated outside the governor’s office in Qom and several schools have been shut due to the pending investigation.

Masih Alinejad, an Iranian human rights activist based in New York, told the Guardian: ‘In my opinion, this chemical attack is revenge by the Islamic Republic against the brave women who [rejected] the mandatory hijab and shook the ‘Berlin Wall’ of [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei.

‘As the Islamic State Iranian regime hates girls and women, I call on women across the globe – especially schoolgirls – to be the voice of Iranian students and call on the leaders of democratic countries to condemn this series of poisonings and isolate Khamenei’s regime,’ she said.

‘I call this biological terrorism, and it should be investigated by the UN. We need an outside organisation to investigate as soon as possible.’

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