The Iranian government believes it has tracked down those responsible for the mysterious mass poisoning of schoolgirls: more than 100 people “responsible” for the incidents in girls’ schools “have been identified, arrested and are being investigated,” the interior ministry said. The state news agency IRNA reports this on Saturday evening.
Those arrested included those with “hostile motives”, the ministry added. They would have pursued the goal of scaring people “and closing schools”. Since the middle of last week, however, the number of incidents in schools has “fortunately” fallen considerably and there are no longer any reports of sick schoolgirls.
5,000 students in about 230 schools affected
Since late November, there have been repeated reports of mass poisonings at girls’ schools in Iran. Thousands of schoolgirls developed symptoms such as nausea and shortness of breath after noticing “unpleasant” odors on school grounds. According to official figures, more than 5,000 schoolgirls in about 230 schools in 25 of Iran’s 31 provinces were affected.
Iranian authorities suspect the poisoning was an attempt to exclude girls from education. The backgrounds have not yet been clarified.
Exile opposition group allegedly behind poisoning
The Interior Ministry has now established a possible link with an Iranian opposition group in exile in Albania. The People’s Mujahideen of Iran, also known as the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), are classified by Iran as a terrorist organization. The IRNA report said investigations into the suspects, including “their possible links to terrorist organizations such as the MEK”, are ongoing.
Source: Krone
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