Iranian regime’s contradictions over poisoning thousands of schoolgirls anger parents

The bone mysterious poisonings gas In female colleges they cause new tensions in Iranamong the contradictions of the authorities, the accusations against “enemies” of the country and the growing dissatisfaction of parents.

Next to 1,000 female students were poisoned with presumed gas in about 50 educational centers women in a dozen cities across the country since November, in incidents that began in the Shia holy city Qom and which have multiplied in recent days.

These are approximate figures provided by the Iranian media since the authorities do not agree on the number of students or schools affected, and even avoid confirming that these are deliberate poisonings.

The latest cases occurred yesterday, when more than a hundred students were poisoned in eight schools and institutes in the city of burntthree schools of Tehranone in appearing and another in Kermanshah.

There is a consensus regarding the symptoms that have been repeated over and over again: headaches, heart palpitations, nausea, dizziness, and sometimes inability to move limbs.

Those affected also agree that before falling ill, they perceived a smell of rotten orange and cleaning products.

Hundreds of young women have so far been hospitalized with “mild symptoms” and one student’s death has not been disclosed.

Amid parents’ panic, Iranian authorities are sending mixed messages, backtracking and resorting to the usual accusations against “enemies” of the country.

The Minister of Health, Bahram Eynollahisaid it was used “a kind of sweet poison” in some attacks that the Deputy Minister of Education, Younes Panahiqualified as “intended” to close girls’ schools.

Panahi then backed down and claimed it was “misinterpreted”.

For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Ahmad Vahidisaid many of the girls’ symptoms were caused by “stress” and “anxiety”, and accused the “Enemies of Iran and Foreign Media” cause public alarm.

Vahidí is the man in charge of the investigation of these gas attacks, after yesterday the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisiordered to “quickly” clarify what is happening.

The lack of information, the inefficiency of the security forces and the misadventures of the authorities are fueling growing discontent among parents in a country where the education of women has not been called into question for decades.

Actually, 60% of Iranian university students are womenwho in other respects suffer from numerous sexist discriminations.

Groups of parents shouted “Death to the government that murders children” in front of several schools in the country, according to videos shared on social networks by the collective 1500tasvir.

Videos of girls being hospitalized, lying in schools with respiratory problems or saying “I can not breathe” They have gone viral on social networks such as Twitter and are fueling public fears.

In the absence of certainty, all sorts of theories began to circulate about the origin and objectives of these attacks.

Some theories indicate fundamentalists seeking revenge for the role of young women in the protests sparked by the death in September Mahsa Aminiafter being arrested for not wearing the veil properly.

The students of schools and institutes participated in these demonstrations with a marked feminist tone, they took off their veils, they shouted “woman, life, freedom” and they cut off the sleeves of the portraits of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

There state repression succeeded in suppressing the protests, during which almost 500 people and for which four demonstrators were hanged.

But the wave of poisonings brought back the cries of “Death to the Islamic Republic.”

(With information from EFE)

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