Iran’s Revolutionary Women and Girls Targeted by Authorities in Serial Poisonings

In Iran, the revolution is being led by women and girls. However, authorities continue their crackdown, now targeting schoolgirls. A spate of mass illnesses was first reported among the students in the holy city Qom, south of the capital Tehran. Subsequently, girls from neighbouring cities also fell sick. If Iran’s deputy health minister is to be believed, they were poisoned using “chemical compounds”. The “poisoning” started in late November, amid unprecedented protests against Iran’s regime over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. Hundreds of cases of respiratory poisoning have been reported among schoolgirls mainly in Qom. Iran’s deputy health minister has admitted that the serial poisoning of schoolgirls in Iran has been “deliberate”. Officials started raising alarm last week but the story has hit international headlines after Younes Panahi, the deputy health minister admitted to foul play. Medical experts have reportedly conducted toxicology tests but have not been able to find the cause of the sickness. Last week, Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri ordered a judicial probe into the incidents. However, no arrests have been made so far.