Reports of students with symptoms of poisoning came during the day, among others, from the western province of Khuzestan where “at least 60 students were poisoned in a girls’ school” according to the state news agency Irib. Also from the city of Ardabil in the northwest and from Urmia in the same part of the country, students were reported to have been poisoned.
The suspected poison attacks against mainly schoolgirls have shaken Iran since last November. Since then, more than 5,000 students have suffered symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, headaches and difficulty breathing, according to a report presented in early March.
At the same time, it was found that students at more than 230 facilities, located in 25 of the country’s 31 provinces, had shown symptoms of poisoning.
A few days later came the news that a larger number of people suspected of involvement in the poison attacks that affected thousands of girls in the country had been arrested.
Last Friday, the member of parliament tasked with investigating the poisoning cases announced that a final report on the matter would be published in two weeks.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, early last month called for “severe punishment” up to the death penalty against those found responsible for the poisonings, which he described as “unforgivable crimes”.
The poisoning cases began two months after the start of a protest movement in Iran sparked by the September 16 killing of Mahsa Amini, 22, after she was arrested for violating the strict dress code for women.