Iran Deputy Minister Says Poisoning Of Schoolgirls ‘Intentional’

Iran’s deputy education minister says the serial poisoning of female students in the religious city of Qom and other cities have been "intentional".

Younes Panahi said on Sunday that "It was found that some people wanted all schools, especially girls' schools, to be closed."

"It has been revealed that the chemical compounds used to poison students are not war chemicals, and the poisoned students do not need aggressive treatment, and a large percentage of the chemical agents used are treatable," he told a press conference.

Homayoun Sameh Najafabadi, a member of the health committee of the parliament, also confirmed in an interview with Didbaniran website that the poisoning of female students in schools of Qom and Borujerd is intentional.

These statements are made in a situation that earlier Youssef Nouri, the Minister of Education called the reports about the poisoning of schoolgirls "rumors", claiming that the students taken to the hospital had "underlying diseases".

However, on Sunday, Majid Monemi, the deputy governor of Lorestan, said 50 female students of a high school in Borujerd, western Iran, were poisoned again.

The serial poisoning of students in Iran started in December in the religious city of Qom and spread to several other cities.

The government has not determined the cause of the poisonings, but some local media say it could be the work of religious zealots who want to prevent girls from attending school.

Teenage schoolgirls joined the antigovernment protests last year and many removed their hijab in protest.