DUBAI - Worried parents protested in Iran's capital Tehran and other cities on Saturday over a wave of suspected poison attacks that have affected girls in dozens of schools, according to Iranian news agencies and social media videos.
Dozens of Iranian schoolgirls across five provinces were hospitalised on Saturday in a new wave of suspected poisoning attacks, local media reported.
Hundreds of cases of respiratory distress have been reported over the past three months among schoolgirls mainly in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, with some needing hospitalisation.
Tasnim and Mehr news agencies reported that the latest spate of poisonings were in the western Hamedan province, as well as Zanjan and West Azerbaijan in Iran's north-west, Fars in the south and Alborz province in the north.
Dozens have been transferred to local hospitals for treatment, the reports said.
On Friday, President Ebrahim Raisi said he had asked the ministers of intelligence and interior to follow up on the poisoning cases, dubbing them "the enemy's conspiracy to create fear and despair in the people".
Foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said a probe into the poisonings was "one of the immediate priorities of the government, to alleviate the concerns of the families and to hold perpetrators accountable".
On Wednesday, at least 10 girls' schools were targeted with poisoning attacks, seven in the north-western city of Ardabil and three in the capital Tehran, according to media reports.
Last week, Iran's deputy health minister, Younes Panahi, said the poisonings were aimed at shutting down education for girls.
The string of poisonings come more than five months into nationwide protests following the death in custody of Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini, 22, who had been arrested for an alleged breach of strict dress rules for women. Tehran says hundreds of people have been killed and thousands arrested in connection with the protests, which the authorities generally describe as "riots".
Schoolgirls were active in the anti-government protests that began in September. They have removed their mandatory head scarves in classrooms, torn up pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and called for his death.
Some Iranian officials believe the girls may have been poisoned and have blamed Tehran's enemies.
Videos posted on social media on Saturday showed parents gathered at schools to take their children home and some students being taken to hospitals by ambulance or buses.
A gathering of parents outside an Education Ministry building in western Tehran on Saturday to protest over the illnesses turned into an anti-government demonstration, according to a video verified by Reuters.
"Basij, Guards, you are our Daesh," protesters chanted, likening the Revolutionary Guards and other security forces to the Islamic State group.
Similar protests were held in two other areas in Tehran and other cities including Isfahan and Rasht, according to unverified videos.
The outbreak of schoolgirl sickness comes at a critical time for Iran's clerical rulers, who have faced months of anti-government protests sparked by the death of a young Iranian woman in the custody of the morality police who enforce strict dress codes.
Social media posts in recent days have shown photos and videos of girls who have fallen ill, feeling nauseous or suffering heart palpitations. Others complained of headaches. Reuters could not verify the posts.
The United Nations human rights office in Geneva called on Friday for a transparent investigation into the suspected attacks and countries, including Germany and the US have voiced concern.
Iran rejected what it views as foreign meddling and "hasty reactions" and said on Friday it was investigating the causes of the incidents.
"It is one of the immediate priorities of Iran's government to pursue this issue as quickly as possible and provide documented information to resolve the families' concerns and to hold accountable the perpetrators and the causes," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani told state media.
REUTERS and AFP