Mass Poisoning of Schoolgirls and Nationwide Protests Continue in Iran

Up to 7,000 Iranian schoolgirls have been poisoned in organized campus attacks in at least 28 of 31 of the country’s provinces, as reported by the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

These reports started last November in Qom after 18 girls at the Nour Technical School were hospitalized for nausea, respiratory symptoms, and heart palpitations. These incidents have since continued nationwide; the most recent report was on April 4, when 20 schoolgirls were hospitalized in Tabriz.

Iran’s education minister, Youssef Nouri, initially dismissed these reports as rumors. After unexplained chemical attacks occurred in 10 more cities through February 2023, however, Alireza Monadi, head of the Parliament’s Education Committee, confirmed schools were “deliberately attacked.”

Iranian police arrested 110 people on March 15 in connection to these poisonings, and the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also condemned the attacks, calling them “unforgivable crimes” that warrant “the most severe of punishments.”

However, infuriated citizens are accusing the Iranian regime of perpetrating these attacks as revenge against the anti-regime protests that took place after government officials killed Zhina (Mahsa) Amini in September of 2022 for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly. These illnesses have reignited protests against the regime, which have erupted across a dozen cities, including Isfahan, Rasht, and the country’s capital, Tehran.

Nonetheless, the regime continues to crack down on these revolutionary protests. According to a report released Thursday, April 13, by the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and the France-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) groups, the Iranian regime has executed at least 582 people in the last year to instill fear among their citizens.

Close to half of all people sentenced to death were prosecuted for drug-related offenses, although there have been no reports created by international agencies marking an increase in drug use.

“In the 44 years of the Islamic Republic’s rule, thousands of dissidents have been sentenced to death and executed, most after being severely tortured, physically and mentally, to accept baseless accusations against them and to confess on camera,” the report said.

The report added that Iranian authorities have “demonstrated how crucial the death penalty is to instill societal fear to hold onto power.”

The IHR and ECPM urge the international community to continue bringing attention to the atrocities happening in Iran.

“The international reactions to the death sentences against protestors have made it difficult for the Islamic Republic to proceed with their executions,” IHR Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said. “To compensate, the authorities have intensified the execution for non-political charges. In order to stop this machine, the international community and civil society inside and outside Iran must show the same reaction to each and every execution.