A spate of illnesses linked to contaminated air at several Iranian girls’ schools have prompted the president of Iran to request an investigation into the matter. According to some officials, the instances may be attacks on women’s access to higher education. Since November, hundreds of girls at roughly thirty different schools have fallen ill, with some requiring hospitalization. Youngsters have complained of experiencing dizziness, weakness, and rapid heartbeats. Some said they smelled chemicals used in cleaning, chlorine, and tangerine fruit.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stated at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the occurrences should be looked into by the Interior Ministry. He stated that the nation’s ministries of intelligence and health ought to assist with the inquiry. Raisi had never discussed the illnesses in public before. A senior security official had written off the allegations of potential poisonings the day before. Majid Mirahmadi, an official from the Interior Ministry, referred to the reports as “psychological warring” by adversaries in the media and others. He claimed that “their goal was to force schools to close.”
The first incidents of sickness happened late last year in Qom, a city some 125 kilometers southwest of Iran’s capital, Tehran. The city has a reputation for having a conservative religious past. Students at Qom’s Noor Yazdanshahr Conservatory got sick in November. After they recovered, they fell ill once more the next month. Then there were further incidents at other girls’ schools. Officials did not first make the connection between the instances at the various schools. Some questioned whether the cause was the natural gas heating systems in schools. However, the illnesses were limited to female-only schools. Officials claim that since then, at least one boys’ school has also been the target. A member of the national parliament, Ali Reza Monadi is seated on the committee on education. The poisonings, according to him, were “intentional.”
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