Dozens of schoolgirls from 30 cities in 10 Iranian provinces were hospitalized Saturday due to poisoning, AFP reported, citing local news agencies Tasnim and Mehr. This is another wave of unidentified gas poisoning.
One girl died and more than 1,000 people were hospitalized, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran. Iranian authorities have denied that 11-year-old Fateme Rezaei’s death was related to poisoning, which it has linked to other things. In the capital Tehran.
At the same time, 800 schoolgirls in the Qom region, 400 in Borujerd and around 350 in Ardabil are acknowledged to have been affected.
“Mortessa Khatami of the Parliamentary Health Committee reported that schoolgirls are being poisoned by several types of gases. Symptoms include breathing problems, dizziness and headaches, but children’s general health is expected to be good” – PAP reported.
Isfahan provincial authorities announced the arrest of the first suspects in the case.
Parents protest. “Death to the Taliban”
Within months, there were several hundred cases of poisoning by an unspecified gas in Iran. The first case of group poisoning was reported in Qom on November 30.
According to the Iran International website, this led to the mobilization of parents and protests in front of schools and education departments in several cities. Gathered “Death to the Taliban in Afghanistan or Iran” and “Revolutionary Guard, Basij [masowa organizacja paramilitarna – red.]”You are our Islamic State.”
Schoolgirl poison. Propaganda blames the West
Deputy Health Minister Younes Panahi admitted at a press conference on Sunday that the poisoning was linked to religious fundamentalists, who want to prevent girls from going to school, AFP reported.
In turn, state media blamed the West for the poisoning. The Kaihan newspaper, the most conservative and staunch of Iran’s supreme leader, said the attacks on the schools were “a new phase in the hybrid war against the Islamic Republic and its Iranian proxies by the West.”
Poisoning occurs after months of resistance
The poisoning began following protests over the death of a young Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini. The woman was arrested by the police in September for not wearing a veil the hair. She fainted while in custody and died shortly after. His death and reports that he was assaulted while being taken to a police station sparked a wave of protests and demonstrations, in which hundreds of demonstrators died and thousands were arrested.
According to a recent report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (February 21), after nearly 160 days of protests, a total of nearly 20,000 people have been arrested and 530 protesters, including 71 children, have been killed. 25 were sentenced to death, of which four were hanged.
The US Medical Threats Research Project rated ‘moderately confident’ that the gas poisoning was a concerted campaign of violence against schoolgirls that was tolerated by authorities. Polish Press Agency
. “Hardcore internet junkie. Award-winning bacon ninja. Social media trailblazer. Subtly charming pop culture advocate. Falls down a lot.”