The alleged poisonings, which started late last year and have afflicted hundreds of children, were the subject of the first public remarks by the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all affairs of state.
The latest spate of purported schoolgirl poisonings has been referred to as an “unforgivable crime” by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“If there are any people involved in the matter, and there certainly are… the perpetrators must be given the most severe of punishments,” he warned.
Iranian officials have only recently recognised the attacks; they have given no information regarding who might be responsible for them or what chemicals if any, may have been employed. Iran has no history of religious zealots attacking women’s education, unlike its neighbour Afghanistan.
Since November, inexplicable illnesses have impacted over 1,000 girls at dozens of schools. Across at least 15 different cities and towns, events occurred just on Sunday.
Yet, they have accused Iran’s “enemy” of exploiting the alleged poisonings to destabilise the country’s clerical establishment even though authorities have made no arrests and disclosed very little information about their investigations.
Without going into further detail, Ahmad Vahidi, Iran’s interior minister, claimed over the weekend that investigators had obtained “suspect samples”. He urged the populace to maintain their composure and charged that nameless adversaries had stoked anxiety to weaken the Islamic Republic.
In contrast to Vahidi, who claimed that at least 52 schools had been impacted by suspected poisonings, more than 60 schools have been mentioned in Iranian media. According to reports, at least one boy’s school was impacted.
According to reports, the poisoned children have experienced headaches, heart palpitations, lethargy, or other physical immobility. Some said they smelled like cleaning supplies, chlorine, or tangerines.
Some Iranians think that hard-line forces are targeting girls’ schools to prevent them from gaining an education.
Some claim that females may be being punished by the government as a result of their leadership in the September countrywide anti-government rallies.
In the meantime, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei issued a warning that they might be charged with “corruption on earth,” a crime that carries the death penalty.
In each province, he added, “lie-spreaders and disrupters of public opinion in the event of the poisonings” would be brought before special courts that would be established.
They made their comments the day after a string of suspected poisonings was recorded in at least 15 cities and towns, with Ahvaz in the southwest and Yazd in the centre being the worst affected.
