- Written by Maryam Afshan
- bbc persian
Parents are afraid to ship their daughters to highschool and are asking for on-line lessons
Nearly 700 women have been poisoned with poisonous fuel in Iran since November, in what many imagine is a deliberate try to pressure colleges to shut.
No women have died, however dozens have suffered from respiratory sicknesses, nausea, dizziness and fatigue.
“It has develop into clear that some folks wish to shut all colleges, particularly women’ colleges,” the deputy well being minister stated on Sunday.
However, he later stated that his remarks had been misunderstood.
The legal professional common introduced final week that he was opening a legal investigation. But he stated the accessible data solely factors to “attainable legal and premeditated exercise.”
Meanwhile, public dissatisfaction continues to develop.
The first poisoning occurred on November 30, when 18 college students from Noor Technical School within the non secular metropolis of Qom have been taken to hospital.
Since then, greater than 10 women’ colleges have been focused in surrounding states.
At least 194 women have been reported to have been poisoned in 4 colleges within the metropolis of Borjerud in western Lorestan province over the previous week.
And on Tuesday, 37 extra college students have been poisoned at Khayyam Girls’ School in Pardis, close to the capital Tehran.
Girls who have been poisoned reported smelling tangerines or rotting fish earlier than turning into in poor health.
Earlier this month, at the least 100 folks protested in entrance of the governor’s workplace in Qom.
In a video broadly shared on social media, one father shouted: “I’ve an obligation to my youngsters to maintain them protected! I’ve two daughters.” “I’ve two daughters…all I can do is hold them out of college.”
“This is struggle!” declared a lady. “They’re doing this to pressure us to sit down at residence on the women’ highschool in Qom. They need the women to remain at residence.”
Some mother and father stated their youngsters have been unwell for a number of weeks after the poisoning.
Another video from the hospital exhibits the teenage woman mendacity dazed on a mattress along with her mom by her aspect.
“Dear moms, I’m a mom and my baby is in a hospital mattress and his limbs are weak,” stated the distraught mom. “When I pinch her, she does not really feel something. Please do not ship her youngsters to highschool.”
Deputy Health Minister Younes Panahi stated at a press convention on Sunday that the women have been poisoned by a chemical that was “not army grade however publicly accessible.”
“Students don’t want invasive therapy and simply want to stay calm,” he added.
Dr. Panahi’s remark that “it’s clear that some folks need all colleges closed” seems to verify that the federal government believes the poisoning was deliberate.
His subsequent denials recommended that officers have been divided over the way to cope with public outrage if no suspects have been recognized.
The poisonings have been significantly concentrated within the metropolis of Qom, residence to vital Shiite Muslim shrines and the Islamic Republic’s core non secular leaders.
Since September, the clergy has challenged large-scale protests that occurred throughout the detention of Mahsa Amini, a younger Kurdish girl who was detained by the morality police on suspicion of not carrying a headband “correctly.”
Some Iranians have speculated that the schoolgirls might have been poisoned in “retaliation” for his or her function within the riots. Social media was flooded with movies of schoolgirls ripping off their headscarves and chanting anti-establishment slogans.
Recent photographs of schoolgirls taking off their headscarves in defiance of the clerical institution have gone viral on-line.
It is speculated that the poisoning was the work of hardliners who needed to “imitate” the Afghan Taliban and Nigeria’s Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, in an effort to intimidate mother and father into not sending their women to highschool. There are some folks.
“Has Boko Haram come to Iran?” requested former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi in an Instagram submit.
The reformist politician additionally warned that “extremists will interpret the boundaries between authorities and faith of their favor.”
Iranian leaders have historically rejected criticism of restrictions on girls, akin to obligatory headscarves, and have as a substitute boasted concerning the variety of girls attending universities. But if a younger woman doesn’t end faculty, college will stay solely a dream.
“They are [officials] Say, “Everything is ok. We have accomplished our investigation.” However, when my father requested the college, they stated, “We’re sorry, however we won’t examine as a result of the CCTV has been shut down for per week.”
“When I used to be poisoned the second time on Sunday, the principal stated, ‘She has a coronary heart situation, that is why she’s within the hospital.’ But I haven’t got a coronary heart situation. there is no such thing as a!”
Additional reporting by BBC Monitoring