Hundreds of Iranian schoolchildren poisoned at school. What’s up?

The first cases appeared in late November in Qom, about 125 kilometers southwest of the Iranian capital Tehran. Students at the Noor Yazdanshahr Conservatory fell ill in November and fell ill again in December. Students complained of headaches, heart palpitations, lethargy and paralysis. Some students described the smell of tangerines, chlorine, or cleaning products. The affected schools were intended only for young women, which raises suspicions that these cases were not accidental. At least one case occurred in Tehran, others in Qom and Borujerd. At least one boys’ school was also attacked.

Officials reported that cases of poisoning of students in women’s comprehensive schools in cities were identified in almost a dozen schools across the country. According to the latest official report, cases of poisoning exceed “a few hundred”, with 52 schools affected.

On Friday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called for the exposure of “an enemy plot to sow fear and despair among the population,” without specifying who those alleged enemies would be. The Iranian government launched an investigation into the cause of the poisoning, but no arrests have been reported at this stage. Authorities have yet to identify suspects, but recent attacks have raised concerns that other girls may have been poisoned simply for attending school.

The reports of the attacks come at a challenging time in Iran, where protests have been taking place for months following the death of young Mahsa Amini following her arrest in September by the national vice police.

The last few months in Iran after Amini’s death have been tense. The struggle began in Iranian schools and universities and then spread to other sectors of society. The demonstrations have gone from being a protest against the mandatory wearing of the hijab to a dedication to the status of women across the country. Since then, several thousand women have been arrested and many have been killed.