Speculation has pointed to a possible ‘revenge attack’ on Iranian girls by government operatives as payback for the widespread anti-hijab protests which erupted after the beating death by police of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who wore her hijab improperly.
UPDATE: The earlier version I posted said that 900 girls had been poisened.
Horrifying video shows dozens of girls gasping for air at Iranian school as Tehran admits FIVE THOUSAND children have now been poisoned in wave of attacks.
Daily Mail (h/t Nita) Disturbing videos have circulated online which appear to show young girls gasping for air as they desperately try to force their way out of schools in Iran, amid a shocking spate of poisonings of children in the country.
In one chilling clip, shared by a BBC Persian journalist, dozens of schoolgirls are seen on the floor after running out of their classrooms, coughing and wailing in pain.
The attacks have targeted mainly female pupils since they were first seen in late November, with many rushed to hospital and unverified videos showing packed emergency rooms. The mystery poisonings have gripped Iran, triggering a wave of angry protests involving distressed parents and teachers and allegations of government complicity from human rights and opposition groups.
Theories around who is behind the series of horrifying attacks include that the authorities may be taking revenge on the girls for their role in the protests which have been ongoing for months. There have also been suggestions that extremist religious groups are staging the attacks in an effort to get women and girls out of the classroom.
In the clip shared by the BBC’s Parham Ghobadi of an unknown location, girls are seen rushing out of a building before sitting on the floor, where they cling on to one another as they struggle to breathe. Another horrifying video appears to show girls fighting their way out of a school in the Western city of Hamadan.
Shared by anti-government activist group 1500 Tanvir, the post says that the girls, from the Fatemieh Art School, are shouting ‘We don’t want to die’ as they push their way past people trying to stop them leaving. They also shared a video of a little girl collapsing as she is lifted into an ambulance, claiming that ‘many students fainted’ and that protesting families were taken away by police.
Scores of schools have been hit by the suspicious attacks, with pupils suffering symptoms ranging from shortness of breath to nausea and vertigo after reporting ‘unpleasant’ odours on school premises.
Further videos seemingly show a packed emergency room in a hospital with distressed family members desperately seeking help for their daughters.
Another clip, shared by human rights activists, was filmed by a woman who alleges that security forces in the northern city of Rasht had fired tear gas at mothers protesting at the local education department there.
But there has not yet been any official explanation of what could be causing these symptoms, or who could be behind them.
Mohammad-Hassan Asafari, a member of the parliamentary fact-finding committee currently looking into the poisonings, told the ISNA news agency yesterday: ‘Twenty-five provinces and approximately 230 schools have been affected, and more than 5,000 schoolgirls and boys poisoned.
‘Various tests are being carried out to identify the type and cause of the poisonings. So far, no specific information has been obtained regarding the type of poison used.’
Unlike neighbouring Afghanistan, Iran has no history of religious extremists targeting women’s education.
But the suspected attacks have been seen by some commentators as part of an extremist response to the protests led by women and girls that have swept Iran in recent months.
UPDATE 2: There is mounting evidence that hardline factions within the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) – the regime’s Gestapo – have been behind the assaults as a way of punishing the schoolgirls for joining the nationwide ’Women, Life, Freedom’ uprising. The regime’s brutal crackdown on the six-month uprising has resulted in more than 750 deaths and 30,000 arrests.
Not surprisingly, the mullahs have lamely tried to blame foreigners, or internal opponents of the regime. Some politicians have even accused emotionally charged adolescents of making false claims about the gas attacks.
Girls’ schools across Iran have been subjected to poison gas attacks, leaving many pupils seriously ill. The girls affected have reported the smell of tangerines or rotten fish before falling ill. Hundreds have been taken to hospital suffering from respiratory problems, nausea, dizziness and fatigue.
Parents and young protesters have taken to the streets to voice their outrage. Several mothers and fathers of poisoned schoolkids have been viciously beaten by the IRGC and their Basij militia thugs in response.
According to the semi-official Mehr government news agency, the most recent cases of the poisoning were reported in Qom last week, when 44 girls were taken to hospital. The report said that three staff members, in addition to 30 students from a girls’ high school in Urmia, were also hospitalised.
Other media reports claim that the poisonings began last November, when thousands of schoolgirls could be seen tearing off their headscarves and chanting anti-government slogans, as the uprising following the death in police custody of the young Kurdish girl, Mahsa Amini, escalated.
Outraged parents have said that their children were ill for weeks following the gas attacks. Videos on social media have shown girls lying dazed on hospital beds while their parents sit beside them.
In a sign of panic at worldwide wrath at the gas attacks, the theocratic regime’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has finally broken his silence. In a recent statement, he said: “Authorities should seriously pursue the issue of students’ poisoning. This is an unforgivable crime… the perpetrators of this crime should be severely punished.” His apparent concern has been slated on social media, with many asking why the government has failed to arrest the perpetrators of such a large and coordinated campaign, while it has been ruthlessly efficient in killing and detaining anti-government protesters.
Charles Black says
I have a hard time believing this to be a coincidence. You have protests led by women against the mullahs, and then suddenly there’s a wave of poisonings. That’s way too suspicious.
Ghulam says
Saddam Hussein did something very similar to a whole bunch of Kurdish girls way back in 1990.
Same chemicals I guess.
Shawn says
Sad as it is true,better they kill their own than us.