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Another Group Of Iranian Pupils Falls Ill; Lawmaker Calls For Investigation

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda February 28, 2023

An Iranian member of parliament has acknowledged reports of several groups of female students falling ill in at least 15 cities, with many being hospitalized in recent months.

Abdulali Rahimi Mozafari announced the news at a meeting of the Iranian Parliament on February 28, asking the speaker to order an investigation into the matter.

In the latest incident, two Iranian journalists reported on social media on February 28 that several schoolgirls in Tehran and in Pardis, just east of the Iranian capital, fell ill with the cause unknown.

The first incident is believed to have occurred in November, when 18 schoolgirls in Qom were taken to a hospital after complaining of symptoms that included nausea, headaches, coughing, breathing difficulties, heart palpitations, and numbness and pain in their hands or legs.

Many Iranians have accused the authorities of not doing enough to find the cause of the outbreak of illness and prevent new cases. Some angry parents have refused to send their children to school.

Meanwhile, other have speculated that religious extremists, in a bid to create fear and prevent girls from attending school, could be behind the incidents.

Earlier this week, top Iranian Sunni cleric Molavi Abdulhamid, who is regarded as a spiritual leader for Iran's Sunni Muslim population, said schoolgirls were being poisoned as "revenge" for the role young women have played in recent protests against the government.

Last week, Nafiseh Moradi, a researcher of Islamic studies at Al Zahra University, a women's public university in Tehran, said in a commentary that it was suspicious that girls, not boys, were mainly affected by the illnesses. The article on Qom News was later deleted from its website.

A teacher from Qom -- which is about 85 miles south of the capital Tehran -- told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that out of 250 students, only 50 attended classes.

Iran has been roiled by unrest -- one of the deepest challenges to the Islamic regime since the revolution in 1979 -- since the September 16 death of the 22-year-old Amini while in police custody for allegedly wearing a hijab, or head scarf, improperly.

The government has held several counter-rallies to try and quell the dissent but people continue to take to the streets across the country, as universities and schools have become leading venues for clashes between protesters and the authorities.

Security forces have also launched a series of raids on schools across the country, violently arresting students, especially female students, who have defiantly taken off their hijabs in protest.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iranian-female-students-fall-ill- poisoning-investigation/32292196.html

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Another Group Of Iranian Pupils Falls Ill; Lawmaker Calls For Investigation