Th ongoing crime of intentional poisoning of female school students in various cities
4-March-2023
Category: Repression
March 1, 2023
Newsgroup: repression – children –
Breathing in Confinement: On Wednesday, March 1, 2023, students of at least 26 schools in the cities of Tehran, Ardabil, Kermanshah and Parand were poisoned by an unknown gas and a large number of them were taken to the hospital. From November 30, 2022 to March 1, 2023, students of 57 schools were poisoned.
According to “Breathing in Confinement”, the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, on March 1, a large number of female school students in different schools were poisoned by inhaling an unknown gas and were taken to the hospital.
The students at girls’ school of Sepehr Misbah and Ayatollah in Kermanshah, Efaf in Ardabil, and the female students at high schools of Bahar, Baharan Dadman and Farzangan 2, Samadchar, Zaker and Andisheh in Ardabil were poisoned.
In Tehran, girl students at the schools of 13 Aban, Hajar, Yarjani, Emmet, Asmat, Imam Hasan, Zarazvand, Jajerodi, Mahdiyeh, Efaf, Seyed al-Shohada, Papli, Farzangan Tehransar and Imam Hossein were the targets of this poisoning.
In addition, the students were poisoned in the campus of Shams Girls’ School, Fardis Rizvan Girls’ School and 22 Bahman Girls’ School in Shahin Shahr.
According to several reports the governmental and law enforcement forces clashed with students and their parents who were chanting protest slogans.
According to a published video, plainclothes forces brutally beat and arrested the mother of one of the students who protested the poisoning of the children.
Ali Mahboubipour, Director General of Security of Ardabil Governorate, announced that 202 students were poisoned in seven schools in Ardabil on Wednesday. He added: “the reason was a poisonous gas”.
The head of Ardabil University of Medical Sciences also said: “the gases had similar smell and the poisoned students developed similar respiratory symptoms in seven schools”. He added: “The general condition of the students is good and the investigation of the situation is ongoing.”
In Hamedan province, Parviz Alibandelou, head of education department of Razan city, said that the reason for the poisoning of the students of Amirabad village in the last week was “gassing” and one student was hospitalized for a day and a half.
Fars news agency quoting “an informed source”, announced the arrest of 3 people in connection with these poisonings. Fars news agency wrote that the unconfirmed news suggests “the possibility of sabotage by hypocrisy network”. “Hypocrisy network” is the phrase used by the regime to refer the MEK.
The poisoning of students started on November 30, 2022, in a school in Yazdanshahr district in the City of Qom, with about 50 students falling ill. Afterwards, these poisoning continued. On December 1, about 20 other students were poisoned again in the same school and were taken to the hospital. On February 22, about 80 poisoned students of “Ahmadiyeh High School” were transferred to the medical centers in the City of Borujerd. A few days ago, Yunes Panahi, the Deputy Minister of Health, confirmed that the poisoning of students in Qom was intentional. He added that after several students were poisoned in Qom schools, it turned out that some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed.
Mozafari, a member of Parliament from Sarvestan, said: Students have been poisoned in at least 10 to 15 cities.
So far, no governmental section has accepted any responsibility in regard to this disaster, and even though the authorities admit that these events are intentional, they have not taken any preventive measures. Instead, they have announced that this poisonous gas is not strong and requires only outpatient treatment. This is while many experts believe that this toxic substance is very dangerous. According to witnesses, an 11-year-old girl died after being poisoned but the authorities of the Islamic Republic denied that this student died due to poisoning.
The Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran warns against this criminal act perpetrated by the Islamic Republic toward female students and demands for an immediate action to be taken by all human rights entities and organizations. The League also warns that the government is testing a type of chemical weapon to be used in the future uprisings in Iran. The United Nations must immediately react to these repressive actions.