Skip to main content

Wave Of Poison Attacks On Hundreds Of Schoolgirls Alarms Iranians

Hundreds of Iranian girls in different schools have suffered "mild poison" attacks over recent months, the health minister said, with some politicians suggesting they could have been targeted by religious groups opposed to girls' education.

The attacks come at a critical time for Iran's clerical rulers, who faced months of anti-government protests sparked by the death of a young Iranian woman in the custody of the morality police who enforce strict dress codes.

The poison attacks at more than 30 schools in at least four cities started in November in Iran's Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Qom, prompting some parents to take their children out of school, state media reported.

Social media posts showed some hospitalised schoolgirls, who said they had felt nauseous and suffered heart palpitations.

"Investigating where this mild poison comes from ... and whether it is an intentional move are not within the scope of my ministry," Health Minister Bahram Einollahi was quoted as saying by state media.

His deputy, Younes Panahi, said on Sunday "it was found that some people wanted schools, especially girls' schools, to be closed", according to IRNA state news agency.

One boys' school has been targeted in the city of Boroujerd, state media reported.

Lawmaker Alireza Monadi said the existence of "the devil's will" to stop girls from going to school was a "serious threat", according to IRNA.

He did not elaborate, but suspicions have fallen on hardline groups that operate as the self-declared guardians of their interpretation of Islam.

In 2014, people took to the streets of the city of Isfahan after a wave of acid attacks, which appeared to be aimed at terrorising women who violated the country's strict Islamic dress code.

"If operatives of the acid attacks had been identified and punished then, today a group of reactionaries would not have ganged up on our innocent girls in the schools," reformist politician Azar Mansoori tweeted.

Several senior clerics, lawmakers and politicians have criticised the government for failing to end the poison attacks and giving contradicting reasons for them, with some warning that frustration among families could ignite further protests.

"Officials are giving contradictory statements ... one says it is intentional, another says it is security-linked and another official blames it on schools' heating systems," state media quoted senior cleric Mohammad Javad Tabatabai-Borujerdi as saying.

"Such statements increase people's mistrust (towards the establishment)."

A judicial probe into the poisoning cases is under way, state media reported.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)



from NDTV News-World-news https://ift.tt/SUFmNIp
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

US Power Firm Admits It May Have Sparked Texas' Largest Wildfire Ever

A US power company admitted Thursday that its equipment may have sparked the largest wildfire in Texas' history. Xcel -- the parent of Southwest Public Service Company, which provides electricity to part of the state -- said it was working with officials investigating the cause of the blaze that charred more than a million acres (over 400,000 hectares). "Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire," the company said. Hundreds of homes are thought to have been destroyed in the fire, which is known to have killed at least two people and over 3,000 farm animals. Xcel, which is facing at least one lawsuit, denied its equipment was improperly maintained. "However, we encourage people who had property destroyed by, or livestock lost in, the Smokehouse Creek fire to submit a claim to Xcel Energy through our claims process," the statement said. The W
Post a Comment
Read more

It's Official, Kamala Harris Is Democratic Candidate For US Election

US Vice President Kamala Harris effectively secured the Democratic party's presidential nomination Friday, confirming her remarkable rise to party standard bearer in November's showdown against Republican Donald Trump. Kamala Harris was the sole candidate on the ballot for a five-day electronic vote of nearly 4,000 party convention delegates. She will be officially crowned at a Chicago convention later this month. "I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States," Kamala Harris, 59, said on a phone-in to a party celebration after securing enough votes by the second day of the marathon vote. In the two weeks since President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Kamala Harris has gained full control of the party. No other Democrats stepped forward to challenge her elevation to the top of the ticket, making her confirmation as the first Black and South Asian woman ever to secure a major party's nomination a formality. The a
Post a Comment
Read more

All You Need To Know About Donald Trump's 1st Criminal Trial

Donald Trump goes on trial Monday for allegedly covering up hush money payments to hide affairs ahead of the 2016 presidential election which propelled him into the White House. He will become the first former US president to go on criminal trial when jury selection begins next week. Here are the key questions ahead of the landmark trial: What is Trump accused of? As Trump closed in on victory in the 2016 presidential election, adult film star Stormy Daniels was paid $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged 2006 sexual tryst with Trump. The payments, made by Trump's lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, were revealed by The Wall Street Journal in January 2018. Prosecutors have seized on the concealment of the payments as "legal fees" in the Trump Organization's accounts when Cohen was reimbursed as the heart of their case. Prosecutors say Trump "concealed the reason for these payments... which clearly were paid in order to influence voters," former prosec
Post a Comment
Read more