The NGO Amnesty International calls on Iran to take “urgent measures” against cases of poisoning of girls in schools
The Iranian authorities have arrested four people on Thursday accused of beating a woman in front of a school in the Iranian capital, Tehran, where dozens of cases of poisoning have been detected, according to the Tasnim news agency.
The first poisonings were reported more than two months ago at a school located in Qom, the capital of the province of the same name, where at least 51 students had to be hospitalized for possible inhalation poisoning.
Symptoms range from a burning throat, difficulty breathing, and even numbness in joints, such as the hands or feet. These cases have also been registered in other parts of the country, such as in Ardabil (northwest), where more than a hundred students have been admitted to hospitals for these ailments, according to the IRNA news agency.
Given the alarm that the cases have produced, the NGO Amnesty International has pointed to “gas attacks on girls’ schools in Iran.” “They raise serious concerns about the increase in gender-based violence against women and girls for courageously defending their rights,” he said Thursday.
In this sense, he has argued that “girls in schools have been at the forefront of anti-government protests” and that “many bravely challenged the discriminatory laws on the mandatory use of the veil.” “The Iranian authorities must take urgent measures to stop these attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice in fair trials,” she said.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday ordered Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi to launch an investigation into these cases to “get to the root of the problem as soon as possible” and “alleviate the concerns of the affected families.”
The Vice Minister of Health, Yunes Panahi, already assured on Sunday that these poisonings were “intentional” and had been carried out with a series of chemical compounds with the aim of “closing the schools for girls”, although he later retracted his words.