Iranian schoolgirls targeted in a series of suspected poisoning attacks

Over the past three months hundreds of young girls attending different schools in Iran have become overpowered by what are believed to be noxious fumes wafting into their classrooms with some ending up weakened on hospital bedsOfficials in Irans theocracy initially dismissed these incidents but now describe them as intentional attacks involving some 30 schools identified in local media reports with some speculating they could be aimed at trying to close schools for girls in this country of over 80 million peopleThe reported attacks come at a sensitive time for Iran which already has faced months of protests after the September death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest by the countrys morality police The authorities have not named suspects but the attacks have raised fears that other girls could be poisoned apparently just for seeking an education something thats never been challenged before in the over 40 years since the 1979 Islamic RevolutionIran itself also has been calling on the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan to have girls and women return to school The first cases emerged in late November in Qom some 125 kilometres 80 miles southwest of Irans capital TehranThere in a heartland of Shiite theologians and pilgrims students at the Noor Yazdanshahr Conservatory fell ill in November They then fell ill again in DecemberOther cases followed with children complaining about headaches heart palpitations feeling lethargic or otherwise unable to move Some described smelling tangerines chlorine or cleaning agentsAt first authorities didnt link the cases Its winter in Iran where temperatures often drop below freezing at night Many schools are heated by natural gas leading to speculation it could be carbon monoxide poisoning affecting the girls The countrys education minister initially dismissed the reports as rumors But the schools affected at first only taught young women fuelling suspicion it wasnt accidentalAt least one case followed in Tehran with others in Qom and Boroujerd At least one boys school has been targeted as wellSlowly officials began taking the claims seriously Irans prosecutorgeneral ordered an investigation saying there are possibilities of deliberate criminal acts Irans Intelligence Ministry reportedly investigated as wellOn Sunday Irans staterun IRNA news agency filed multiple stories with officials acknowledging the scope of the crisis After several poisonings of students in Qom schools it was found that some people wanted all schools especially girls schools to be closed IRNA quoted Younes Panahi a deputy health minister as sayingAlso read Iran sentences detained USbased opposition figure to death for deadly 2008 mosque bombingA Health Ministry spokesman Pedram Pakaieen said the poisoning didnt come from a virus or a microbe Neither elaborated furtherAli Reza Monadi a national parliament member who sits on its education committee described the poisonings as intentional The existence of the devils will to prevent girls from education is a serious danger and it is considered a very bad news he said according to IRNA We have to try to find roots of thisAlready parents have pulled their students from classes in effect shuttering some schools in Qom in recent weeks according to a report by Shargh a reformist news website based in TehranThe poisonings come as getting verifiable information out of Iran remains difficult given the crackdown on all dissent stemming from the protests and internet slowdowns put in place by the governmentAt least 95 journalists have been arrested by authorities since the start of the protests according to the New Yorkbased Committee to Protect JournalistsOverall the security force crackdown has killed at least 530 people and seen 19700 others detained according to Human Rights Activists in IranAttacks on women have happened in the past in Iran most recently with a wave of acid attacks in 2014 around Isfahan at the time believed to have been carried out by hardliners targeting women for how they dressed But even in the chaos surrounding the Islamic Revolution no one targeted schoolgirls for attending classesJamileh Kadivar a prominent former reformist lawmaker and journalist wrote in Tehrans Ettelaat newspaper that as many as 400 students have fallen ill in the poisoningsShe warned subversive opposition groups could be behind the attacks However she also raised the possibility of domestic extremists who aim to replace the Islamic Republic with a caliphate or a Talibantype Islamic emirateShe cited a supposed communique from a group calling itself Fidayeen Velayat that purportedly said iquestthe study of girls is considered haram and threatened to spread the poisoning of girls throughout Iran if girls schools remain openIranian officials have not acknowledged any group called Fidayeen Velayat which roughly translates to English as Devotees of the Guardianship However Kadivars mention of the threat in print comes as she remain influential within Iranian politics and has ties to its theocratic ruling classThe head of Ettelaat newspaper also is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Another prominent reformist politician Azar Mansouri also linked the suspected poisoning attacks to hardline groups referencing the Isfahan acid attacksWe said the acid attacks were organized You said You are disturbing public opinion Mansouri wrote online If operatives of the attacks were identified and punished then today a group of reactionaries would not have ganged up on our innocent girls in the schoolsActivists also worry this could be a disturbing new trend in the countryThis is a very fundamentalist thinking surfacing in society said Hadi Ghaemi the executive director of the New Yorkbased Centre for Human Rights in Iran We have no idea how widespread this group is but the fact they have been able to carry it out with such impunity is so troublingThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility 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