Iran announces arrests over schoolgirl poisonings

More than 5,000 children, almost all of them girls, have been poisoned in Iran since November

Leaders in Iran announced several arrests amid an ongoing wave of school poisonings. Tehran’s Interior Ministry has accused some of those arrested of having ties to “foreign-based dissident media.”

The Islamic Republic of Iran on Tuesday announced that several individuals had been arrested in six different provinces around the country in connection with an ongoing wave of poisonings mainly affecting schoolgirls.

Interior Minister Majid Mirahmadi told state media that Iranian intelligence agencies had made the arrests and would be “conducting a full investigation.”

The poisonings, which started in late November, have affected more than 5,000 students at some 230 schools across 25 of the country’s 31 provinces.

The Interior Ministry accused some of those arrested of having ties to “foreign-based dissident media” as well as having participated in ongoing nationwide protests — which the government describes as riots — over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody after being arrested for failing to correctly cover her hair in public.

“Three members of a team of four people arrested have a history of being involved in recent riots and their connection to foreign-based dissident media has been ascertained,” read the Interior Ministry statement.

What is known about the substance used in the poisonings?

Speaking with Iran’s ISNA news agency Monday, parliamentary fact-finding committee member Mohammad-Hassan Asafari said: “Various tests are being carried out to identify the type and cause of the poisonings. So far, no specific information has been obtained regarding the type of poison used.”

Affected students have suffered shortness of breath and nausea, even vertigo. Several have had to be hospitalized.

Deputy Health Minister Saeed Karimi suggested the poisonings may not be the result of gas, but rather “a powder or paste or even a liquid, which when poured over a heater or vaporized by heat can cause complications.”

The most recent case, reported Tuesday, involved 40 schoolgirls in the southeastern city of Zahedan, which has been the site of deadly crackdowns on anti-government protesters.