Iran: Schoolgirls across five provinces hospitalised in new wave of poisoning attacks

Dozens of schoolgirls across five provinces of Iran — Hamedan, Zanjan, West Azerbaijan, Fars and Alborz — were hospitalised on Saturday (March 4) for poisoning. According to local media, the schoolgirls were transferred to local hospitals for treatment and they are in generally good condition. Iran has been seeing a series of poisoning attacks which come over five months into nationwide protests following the death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for incorrectly wearing her hijab.

On Wednesday, at least 10 girls' schools were targetted with poisoning attacks— seven in Ardabil and three in the capital city of Tehran, the reports said.

Ardabil forced the hospitalisation of 108 students, all of whom were in stable condition. According to a report by Fars, parents said that students at one high school in Tehran's western neighbourhood of Tehransar had been exposed to a toxic spray. But there are no more details available on this yet.

On Friday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that he asked the ministers of intelligence and interior to follow up on poisoning cases, dubbing them the enemy's conspiracy to create fear and despair in the people.

This comes after the country's Deputy Health Minister Younes Panahi said the poisonings were aimed at shutting down education for girls, the news agency AFP reported on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Naseer Kanani said that an investigation into the poisonings was one of the immediate priorities of the government, to alleviate the concerns of the families and to hold perpetrators accountable.

Hundreds of cases of respiratory distress have been reported over the last three months among schoolgirls mainly in Qom, south of Tehran, with some needing hospitalisation. The poisonings have provoked a wave of anger across Iran, with critics denouncing official silence in the face of the growing number of schools reportedly being targeted.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE