According to Iran’s official agency IRNA, new cases of poisoning were seen in the cities of Ahvaz and Abadan in Khuzestan province.
Sayyid Mohammed Muhammedi, Rector of Abadan University of Medical Sciences, announced that some students at Muin Girls’ School in the city had symptoms of poisoning.
Noting that the Abadan Medical Emergency Center specialists went to the school where the poisoning took place after the incident was heard, Muhammedi stated that some students were taken to Ayatollah Talegani and Martyr Beheshti hospitals.
While 16 students were discharged after their treatment, the treatment of one student continues.
Ahvaz Cundishapur University of Medical Sciences Vice-Chancellor Habib Khyber, without specifying the number, said that in a high school in Ahvaz’s Bağmelek region, students were poisoned and they were discharged after their treatment at the hospital.
Mass poisoning cases in schools in Iran
Since November 30, 2022, mass poisoning cases have occurred in schools where mostly female students are educated in Iran.
Yunus Penahi, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, stated at a press conference on February 26 that there was “intention” in the poisoning cases of students, “It was determined that some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed.” he said.
President İbrahim Reisi also appointed Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi, Intelligence Minister İsmail Hatib and Health Minister Bahram Aynullahi on 1 March to investigate the source of suspicious cases.
In a statement on March 3, the chief said, holding “the enemies of Iran” responsible for the poisoning of female students, “Today, hostilities have increased with the progress of the country; the latest example of this is the attempt to create an atmosphere of insecurity in schools and an atmosphere of anxiety in families.” had used the words.
Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said yesterday that he had ordered the authorities to “take the incident seriously and punish the perpetrators with the most severe punishment”.
Head of the Judiciary Gulam Hüseyin Muhsini Ejei said that the perpetrators of the poisoning cases would be tried by “execution”.
Mohammad Hasan Asferi, Member of the Iranian Parliamentary Investigation Commission on Poisoning Cases, stated on March 5 that more than 5 thousand students, mostly girls, have been poisoned in 230 schools in 25 provinces since November 30, 2022.
In the report released by the Ministry of Health on the poisoning cases on March 6, it was stated that several types of poisonous gas were used in the cases, while the content of the chemicals in question could not be determined yet.
Reacting to the failure to prevent poisoning cases, university students, teachers and parents protested the authorities with demonstrations in some cities of the country.