On Monday, April 17, 2023, the poisoning of female students continued in the cities of Karaj, Sanandaj, Gilan-e Gharb, Shiraz, Kermanshah, Divandarreh, Saqqez, Bukan, Dezful, Urmia, and Tabriz. Many students were sent to medical centers, and some of them were in bad condition.
The schools that were targeted by chemical attacks with poisonous gas were:
- Malekzadeh Primary School, Imam Jafar Sadeq and Mohammad Baqer Conservatory – Karaj
- Nasibeh High School – Sanandaj
- Esmat and Khadijeh Kobra high schools, 17 Shahrivar Middle School, and Andisheh Conservatory – Gilan-e Gharb
- Aseman High School – Tabriz
- Fajr and Esmat schools – Bukan
- Mo’alem High School – Kermanshah
- Umm-e Salmeh High School – Dezful
- Hajar High School – Divandarreh
- Molana High School – Urmia
- Gaza High School-Saqqez
- Parseh High School – Isfahan
- Haj Tawhidi High School – Shiraz
On Sunday, April 16, Khamenei’s agents poisoned female students in Setayesh and Tolo high schools in Tehran, Soleimani School in Karaj, Yas-e Nabi School in Qazvin, Etrat School in Islamshahr, Meraj School in Ardabil, Taravat School in Urmia, Amanat School in Babolsar, Naseri school in Harsin, and schools in Baharestan, Tehran. Many female students were transferred to medical centers. Only in Urmia more than 40 students were taken to the hospital.
On the same day, students at Tehran University’s Faculty of Social Sciences and Allameh University’s Faculty of Social Sciences held rallies to protest the imposition of compulsory hijab and the poisoning of female students. Among other things, they chanted: “Students are poisoned, teachers are in prison, but they pursue the imposition of hijab.”
On Saturday, April 15, Sherafat and Khadijeh Kobra schools in Sanandaj were targeted by chemical attacks, which led to the poisoning of 14 female students and their transfer to the hospital.
Mehr-e Parvin Girls’ Conservatory in Sarpol-e Zahab was also targeted by a chemical attack, and more than 37 students were poisoned and taken to the hospital. In Mehr-e Parvin school, gas canisters were thrown into the building from the third floor, and the school management prevented the students from leaving for a while by closing the entry and exit doors.
In the chemical attack on Shafeii Girls’ High School in Mahabad, several students were poisoned and taken to medical centers; some were seriously ill. There were also reports of chemical attacks on girls’ schools in Urmia, Izeh, and Shahr-e Quds in Tehran.
Iranian authorities fail to address the poisoning of female students
During the past 5 months, the poisoning of female students in more than 500 girls’ schools in more than 110 cities by the agents of Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has continued. But the security, political and propaganda institutions of the mullahs’ regime are engaged in secrecy, cover-up, and lying without finding a solution.
Pershang Ranjbari, the director of Meraj High School for Girls in Saqqez, resigned from her position in protest of the poisoning of female students and chemical attacks on schools and the failure to identify the perpetrators.
Poisoning of female students is a heinous and systematic crime carried out on Khamenei’s order to prevent the outbreak of protests. The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran calls on the international community to take immediate action to end this human tragedy. The committee urges the UN international fact-finding committee to conduct comprehensive and independent investigations.
