'Revenge poisoning'? Iran launches probe after school girls mysteriously fall ill

On November 30, 2022, the holy city of Qom, in the south of Tehran, witnessed a mysterious incident. As many as 18 school girls from a high school fell ill, following which they were rushed to the hospital. All recuperated, some after several days of treatment. 

A doctor who treated them believed the girls were 'poisoned.' Two months later, over 100 girl students from 13 schools were hospitalised with similar symptoms. More such incidents happened in several other schools in Qom, Tehran and the cities of Borujerd, Lorestan and Ardebi. 

Girls who fell victim reported strange odours, similar to rotten tangerines or strong perfume before they fell ill. Some even cited students who claim strange objects being thrown into schoolyards before a poisoning.

However, after months of speculations, the Iranian state officials finally confirmed that the poisonings have been deliberate and a "revenge" for the role young women played in recent protests against the mandatory hijab. 

Iran’s deputy education minister, Younes Panahi, told reporters earlier the week: "After the poisoning of several students in [the city of] Qom … it was found that some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed." 

"It has been revealed that the chemical compounds used to poison students are not war chemicals … the poisoned students do not need aggressive treatment and a large percentage of the chemical agents used are treatable," he added.

After the uproar, Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi visited affected students in Qom. He said most girls reported symptoms including muscle weakness, nausea, and tiredness, but that the "poisoning". Einollahi said his team had taken many samples from patients. Testing was being conducted at Iran’s renowned Pasteur Institute, which reported that no microbes or viruses had been identified.

However, there are reports that nitrogen gas was detected in the poison. Nevertheless, a committee has been formed to investigate, and President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday ordered the interior ministry to follow up on poisoning cases. So far, no arrests have been made. 

Revenge

Irrespective of the government version, the doctors seem to have identified the chemical used. "With the available data, the most probable cause of this poisoning could be a weak organophosphate agent. Even if some of the poisoned pupils show a sign of severe sweating, excess salivation, vomiting, intestinal hypermotility and diarrhoea, then the attack was done using this agent," a doctor, on conditions of anonymity, told The Guardian.

The doctor believes they were aimed at scaring the girls who pioneered the protests. "They want to take revenge on schoolgirls, who are the pioneers of the recent protests. Never before have I treated someone who was poisoned with organophosphate agents. The only cases I treated were workers who were exposed to these agents in agricultural pesticides," he states.

Whatever it may be, the incident has kept away many girls from attending school. An Iranian media outlet reported that out of 250 students, only 50 attended classes in the city of Qom. The incident has also triggered protests over the country.