Status: 03/03/2023 6:12 p.m
After the renewed poisoning of Iranian schoolgirls, Foreign Minister Baerbock called for all cases to be fully clarified. The background is still unclear, Iran’s arch-conservative president accuses “enemies”.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called for a “complete clarification” after the renewed poisoning of schoolgirls in Iran. “The reports of poisoned schoolgirls in Iran are shocking,” wrote the Green politicians on Twitter. Girls should be able to go to school without fear – “it doesn’t matter whether it’s in Tehran or Ardabil,” says Baerbock.
The US President’s Office had also expressed concern about the reports of poisoning. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in Washington that these are “deeply disturbing” and that the world must find out why.
On Wednesday, Iranian media reported new poisoning attacks at ten girls’ schools, seven in the northwest city of Ardabil and three in the capital Tehran. More than 100 students were hospitalized. In some cases, the state of health is said to be critical.
Raisi accuses “enemies”
Poison gas attacks at girls’ schools in Iran have been reported for about three months. Iranian authorities suspected an attempt to exclude girls from schooling. Neither the process nor those responsible are clear so far. According to an Iranian MP, to which the AFP news agency referred on Wednesday, almost 1,200 schoolgirls with shortness of breath had to be treated by a doctor – 800 of them alone from poisoning in the city of Qom, south of Tehran. The substances used against the girls in Qom apparently contained traces of nitrogen.
Arch-conservative Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi blamed “enemies” for the poisoning. This is a plan to spread chaos in the country, he said. “The enemy is trying to scare and unsettle parents and students,” the president said in a speech to a crowd in southern Iran that was televised live. Raisi left open who he thinks the enemies of the Islamic Republic are. However, the USA and Israel are regularly referred to as such.
Protests for almost half a year
At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Raisi instructed the Ministry of the Interior to investigate the series of poisonings. The health and intelligence ministries should support it, the state news agency Irna reported. A spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights demanded that the results of a state investigation should be published and the perpetrators brought to justice.
Schoolgirls have also taken part in the anti-government protests that erupted last year after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The Kurd died in police custody on September 16. The so-called vice police arrested her because she was said to have been dressed inappropriately.