The serial gas poisoning of students in girls high schools in Qom reached Tehran. At the same time, the families of the poisoned students protested in front of the Qom governorate.
Some 30 students of one of Tehran’s girls high schools got respiratory poisoning and went to the hospital on Tuesday, February 14, 2023. (The state-run Hamshahri newspaper – February 14, 2023)
According to the students at the girls high school in Tehran’s Monirieh District, “Around 9 o’clock, there was a smell in the air of the class, the whole class was almost suffocating. We all came out. Little by little, they came out from the rest of the classes. The whole building was full. The smell was like pepper spray or tear gas because some of the students’ eyes were burning.”
In another report from the same school, it is stated: “Today in the school, everyone felt bad after a gas was released. Many fainted, and yet the school deputies wanted to force the students back to the class! The police came sooner than the ambulances.”
Serial poisoning in girls high schools in Qom
According to the official news agency IRNA, citing Majid Mohebbi, Vice President of Medicine of Qom University of Medical Sciences, on Tuesday, 117 students from different schools of Qom were admitted to medical centers and hospitals in Qom with suspected symptoms of poisoning.
The serial poisoning of girls high school students in Qom, which started in December, continues, and the cause of these incidents is still unknown. The relevant authorities have not given any response to the families of the poisoned students.
The NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi in a tweet called for an international investigation: “Female students’ chain poisoning in Qom over 3 months, now in Tehran, is no accident but a systematic crime driven by a misogynistic regime’s malicious intent. Iranian girls’ role in the uprising has doubled the regime’s hysteria. Urging an international investigation.”
Families protest against serial poisoning of students in Qom
Following the serial poisonings in girls high schools in Qom, the poisoned students’ families gathered and protested in front of the Qom governorate. They chanted: “We don’t want unsafe schools,” “death to the governor,” and “incompetent governor, resign, resign.”
The serial poisoning of students at girls high schools started in December. So far, at least 140 female students in Qom have gone to medical centers for at least 15 cases of serial poisoning. In recent weeks, several girls high schools in different areas of Qom are involved in this issue.
It is believed that these serial poisonings aim to terrorize girls and their families and to prevent their education.
History of serial poisoning in girls high schools in Qom
The first time, the poisoning of girls happened at Noor girls high school in Qom on November 30, 2022, during nationwide and widespread school protests. Since that day, there have been eight incidents of gas poisoning in more than 12 girls high schools in Qom, the state-run Tasnim news agency.
The last time was on Sunday, February 12, 2023. Majid Mohebbi, Vice President of Qom University of Medical Sciences, announced that 37 students at girls high schools in Qom were poisoned and were urgently taken to the hospital. (The state-run Mehr news agency – February 12, 2023)
On Monday, February 6, 2023, Majid Mohebbi, Vice President of Medicine of Qom University of Medical Sciences, announced that 61 students at girls high schools in Qom from 8 schools with poisoning symptoms were transferred to the provincial medical centers.
On Sunday, February 5, 2023, students of three girls high schools in Qom were poisoned by inhaling poisonous gas. This poisoning occurred in Qara’ati, Pardisan, and Maysam girls high schools in Salariyeh and Taha districts, and 18 students were taken to the hospital.
Mohebbi stated that they cannot definitively comment on the cause of the poisoning and claimed: “Signs of the presence of carbon monoxide gas have been observed in girls high schools, but we cannot definitively say that all poisonings are caused by carbon monoxide gas.” Therefore, the tests continue.
On February 1, 2023, a number of students of Belghais Girls High School were poisoned for the fifth time in Qom and went to the hospital. This news was also broadcast on the state radio and television that some students from Belghais Girls High School went to the hospital with poisoning symptoms, including nausea, headache and numbness in the limbs.
On January 30, 2023, a teacher and 17 Fatemieh Girls High School students were poisoned. Some Fatemieh high school students were poisoned two days in a row, and others from Noor Conservatory in Qom were poisoned.
On Saturday, January 28, 2023, Qom University of Medical Sciences public relations announced the poisoning of 15 Fatemieh Girls High School students with nausea, vomiting, and dizziness symptoms. It said that these people were taken to medical centers.
The state-run Tasnim news agency reported about the poisoning of students in Qom that the school authorities reported the “smell of tangerines,” and the students became dizzy after that. According to some parents, complications such as dizziness and lethargy the students continued until several weeks later.
