The World Briefly

March 02, 2023

Poisoning the Mind

Iran

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Iranian authorities on Wednesday launched an investigation into the poisoning of hundreds of schoolgirls across the country, in what officials and human rights advocates believe to be a deliberate attack targeting girls’ education and “revenge” against the women-led protests in recent months, NBC News reported.

Local media said the mysterious incidents began in late November in the holy city of Qom.

In recent weeks, authorities have documented cases, including the poisoning of more than 100 girls in the northwestern city of Ardabil. On Wednesday, they reported a number of poisonings of female high school students in the capital of Tehran.

The poisonings were caused by unknown gas or chemicals, which government officials said were “not war chemicals.” The victims didn’t need major medical treatment, they added.

Still, no one has claimed responsibility for the acts and police have made no arrests. Government officials and lawmakers said the poisonings were not accidental and were intended to disrupt girls’ schooling.

The incidents come as Iran continues to grapple with ongoing anti-government protests that began in September following the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the country’s morality police.

The young woman was detained for violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code.

Women have been at the forefront of the demonstrations, confronting officials and removing their headscarves in protests. Headscarves are mandated by law for women in public.

Critics and advocate groups blamed Iranian authorities for the poisonings, with some saying they are “the result of the Iranian government’s policy of blocking women from having the same rights and status in society as men.”

This story originally appeared in the March 02, 2023 newsletter, A Dragon in the Shadows.