Wed 08 March 2023:
The Iranian Ministry of Interior on Tuesday announced the first arrests linked to a series of mysterious poisonings of schoolgirls across the country.
“A number of people have been arrested in five provinces and the relevant agencies are conducting a full investigation,” the Tasnim news agency quoted Deputy Interior Minister, Majid Mirahmadi, as saying.
“The results will be announced once investigations are completed and clear results are obtained,” he added.
The announcement came a day after Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on the country’s officials to follow up on the case “seriously”, saying it was “an unforgivable crime”.
Since November, more than 1,200 Iranian schoolgirls from at least 60 different schools have fallen ill and had to be hospitalised after smelling “mysterious odours”, according to Iranian state media and government officials.
Last Thursday, the Public Prosecutor in Tehran, Ali Salehi, announced the formation of a special committee to follow up on the case, warning that the culprits would face severe legal penalties.
Last Friday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that he asked the ministers of intelligence and interior to follow up on poisoning cases, dubbing them the enemy’s conspiracy to create fear and despair in the people.
This comes after the country’s Deputy Health Minister Younes Panahi said the poisonings were aimed at shutting down education for girls, the news agency AFP reported on Saturday.
Crisis over suspected Iran schoolgirl poisonings escalates
Alleged poisonings began in November in the Shiite holy city of Qom. Reports now suggest schools across 21 of Iran’s 30 provinces have seen suspected cases.#Iran #IranianSchoolgirls pic.twitter.com/vwjnbD7QCd
— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) March 5, 2023
Fidayeen Velayat
Suspicion in Iran has fallen on possible hard-liners for carrying out the suspected poisonings. Iranian journalists, including Jamileh Kadivar, a prominent former reformist lawmaker at Tehran’s Ettelaat newspaper, have cited a supposed communique from a group calling itself Fidayeen Velayat that purportedly said that girls’ education “is considered forbidden” and threatened to “spread the poisoning of girls throughout Iran” if girls’ schools remain open.
Iranian officials have not acknowledged any group called Fidayeen Velayat, which roughly translates to English as “Devotees of the Guardianship.” However, Kadivar’s mention of the threat in print comes as she remains influential within Iranian politics and has ties to its theocratic ruling class. The head of the Ettelaat newspaper also is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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