Protests break out in Iran over suspected poisoning of hundreds of schoolgirls

Key Points

• Hundreds of schoolgirls in Iran have been affected by unexplained illnesses in recent months.
• Some suspect the girls are being targeted in poison attacks.
• Iranian authorities say investigators have found “suspicious samples”, which are being studied.

Worried parents have protested in Iran’s capital Tehran and other cities over a wave of suspected poison attacks that have affected schoolgirls in dozens of schools, according to Iranian news agencies and social media videos.

The so-far unexplained illnesses have affected hundreds of schoolgirls in recent months.

Iranian officials believe the girls may have been poisoned and have blamed the country’s enemies.

The country’s health minister has said the girls have suffered “mild poison” attacks and some politicians have suggested the girls could have been targeted by hardline Islamist groups opposed to girls’ education.

Iran has no history of religious extremists targeting girls’ education.

Women and girls continued attending school even at the height of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled Iran’s US-backed monarchy.

Iran’s interior minister said on Saturday investigators had found “suspicious samples” that were being studied.

“In field studies, suspicious samples have been found, which are being investigated… to identify the causes of the students’ illness, and the results will be published as soon as possible,” the minister, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, said in a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA.

Sickness affected more than 30 schools in at least 10 of Iran’s 31 provinces on Saturday.

A gathering of parents outside an Education Ministry building in western Tehran on Saturday to protest over the illnesses turned into an anti-government demonstration, according to a video verified by Reuters.

“Basij, Guards, you are our Daesh,” protesters chanted, likening the Revolutionary Guards and other security forces to the self-proclaimed Islamic State group.

Similar protests were held in two other areas in Tehran and other cities including Isfahan and Rasht, according to unverified videos.

The outbreak of schoolgirl sickness comes at a critical time for Iran’s clerical rulers, who have faced

sparked by the death of a young Kurdish Iranian woman in the custody of the morality police who enforce strict dress codes.

Reuters could not verify the posts.

The United Nations human rights office in Geneva called on Friday for a transparent investigation into the suspected attacks and countries including Germany and the United States have voiced concern.

Iran rejected what it views as foreign meddling and “hasty reactions” and said on Friday it was investigating the causes of the incidents.