Iran schoolgirls allegedly poisoned in attempt to close schools, authorities investigating

Dozens of Iranian schoolgirls have reportedly been hospitalized after they were poisoned by noxious fumes wafting into classrooms at mostly all-girls schools.

Iranian authorities are investigating reports that hundreds of schoolgirls have been intentionally poisoned by noxious fumes wafting into classrooms at predominantly all-girls schools.

Dozens of schoolgirls in Iranian cities like Qom and Borujerd have reportedly been hospitalized as a result of the attacks. About 30 schools in the region have been targets of the poisonings, according to reports by local media.

Iran’s deputy education minister Younes Panahi confirmed Sunday to the state-run IRNA news agency that “some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed.” He added that “a large percentage” of the chemicals used to allegedly poison students are “treatable.”

The Guardian spoke to Masih Alinejad, an Iranian human rights activist based in New York, who claimed the attacks are possibly “revenge by the Islamic Republic” against school-aged girls who have been at the forefront of the country’s ongoing protests.

Large protests have persisted in Iran since September when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the country’s theocratic “morality police.” Amini was accused of violating the country’s modesty laws. Initial protests following Amini’s death focused on Iran’s strict dress code dictating what women can wear, though they have since expanded into broader calls for a regime change. Thousands of people are in prison for participating in the protests.

The first reported instance of the alleged school poisonings came in November at the Noor Yazdanshahr Conservatory in Qom, about 125 kilometres from Iran’s capital, Tehran. In December, students at the conservatory were reportedly poisoned again.

As recently as Tuesday another all-girls school in Pardis, just over 40 kilometres from Tehran, experienced a suspected attack.

Allegedly, at least one boy’s school has also been targeted in the string of poisonings.