More than a hundred people were arrested in Iran as part of the investigation into the poisoning of thousands of girls in schools, a case that has shocked the country, authorities announced.
(Also: The challenge posed to the West by Xi Jinping’s third term in China)
“More than 100 people suspected of responsible for incidents in schools were identified, detained and interrogated“The Interior Ministry said in a statement on Saturday night, carried by the official Irna news agency.
(You can read: Attack against journalists in Afghanistan leaves at least one dead and eight injured)
The ministry specified that, among the detainees, some had “hostile motives” with the aim of “creating a climate of fear among the students and closing the schools”. Although he did not give further details, the arrests took place in several provinces, including Tehran or Qom (north).
The ministry mentions “possible links with terrorist organizations” and cites the People’s Mujahideen of Iran (MEK), an exile movement based in Albania.
(Keep reading: Nine years since the disappearance of flight MH370: what really happened?)
The MEK spokesman in Paris, Shahin Gobadi, denounced a “ridiculous spectacle to disguise the role of the institutions under the direction of Khamenei in this great crime”.
“The crime of poisoning thousands of students (…) is not the work of anyone other than the clerical regime and its security and repression apparatus,” he insisted, asking Tegerán to accept an international investigation.
(Also: ChatGPT: Although it’s banned in China, students use it for homework)
The crime of poisoning thousands of female students (…) is the work of no one other than the clerical regime and its security and repression apparatus.
Since the end of November, many girls’ schools have registered poisonings, with gas and toxic substances, which have caused nausea, respiratory problems and fainting in the students, some of whom had to be hospitalized.
In total, authorities said there were “more than 5,000 female students” affected in some “230 schools” in 25 of the country’s 31 provinces.
(You can read: China issues a warning to the US and reiterates its position on Ukraine and Taiwan)
The statement stated that since the middle of last week, the number of incidents “decreased significantly” and that there were no new cases.
This wave of poisonings has shocked the country. The families mobilized and urged the authorities to react. On March 6, Iran’s Supreme Guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for “severe penalties,” including the death penalty, against those responsible for these poisonings, which he called “unforgivable crimes.”
(Also: Video: The mysterious ‘rain of worms’ in China that shakes the internet)
These poisonings began two months after the start of the protests unleashed in the country following the death, on September 16, of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old girl who died in the custody of the morality police, after being arrested for not wearing correctly put the veil.
AFP
#Iran #arrested #case #poisoning #girls #schools