Hundreds of girls in Iran poisoned to stop them from going to school

Iran's deputy minister said on Sunday that "some people" are harassing schoolgirls in the holy city of Qom to end girls' education, state media reported. Since late November, hundreds of cases of respiratory poisoning have been reported among schoolgirls, particularly in Qom, south of Tehran, with some requiring hospital treatment.

On Sunday, Deputy Health Minister Younes Panahi implicitly confirmed that the poisonings were intentional. "After the poisoning of several students in Qom schools, it was found that some people wanted all schools, especially girls' schools, to be closed," a media report quoted Panahi as saying. He did not elaborate. No arrests have yet been made in connection with the poisonings.

On February 14, parents of students who were sick gathered outside the city's governorate to "demand an explanation" from the authorities, a report mentioned. The next day, government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said the intelligence and education ministries were trying to find the cause of the poisonings.

Last week, Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri ordered a judicial inquiry into the incidents. The poisonings come as Iran has been rocked by protests since the Dec. 16 death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini in custody for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code for women.