Poisoning and Hospitalization of 67 Students at a Girls' Vocational School in Zanjan

On Sunday, November 7, dozens of students from the Kowsar girls' vocational school in Zanjan were hospitalized due to poisoning. Hassan Esmkhani, the public relations manager of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, announced that 67 students had been transferred to four hospitals in Zanjan, describing the general condition of all students who were hospitalized due to 'poisoning or anxiety resulting from it' as suitable. He stated that the cause of this poisoning is under investigation, claiming that the main issue for the hospitalized students was the 'psychological burden and anxiety' resulting from this incident. In the winter of 1401 (2022), numerous reports of 'chemical attacks' on schools and the 'poisoning' of a large number of students were reported in dozens of cities across Iran. As the poisoning of schoolgirls spread in Iran, a group of protesters on Saturday, March 4, 1401 (2023), gathered in front of education department buildings chanting 'Our enemy is right here; they lie that it’s America' to protest the existing conditions and the 'serial poisoning' of schoolgirls. However, state media and officials of the Islamic Republic denied any 'poisoning' and attributed these incidents to 'malingering,' 'anxiety,' and 'foul-smelling bombs.' At that time, Shahryar Heydari, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, told the ILNA news agency that this act was a completely organized movement. Weeks after numerous reports of poisoning incidents among students in various regions of the country and gas attacks on schools in different cities, Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, finally reacted, calling it 'a great and unforgivable crime.' Hours later, Ebrahim Raisi, in a cabinet meeting on March 15, claimed that the poisonings were 'a new enemy plot to create anxiety in the hearts of students and their parents and a crime against humanity' aimed at 'stirring up unrest in society and creating public confusion and terror.' Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, also promised that if the perpetrators of the student poisonings were 'arrested,' their cases would be handled 'specially and out of turn.' Meanwhile, with the beginning of the Nowruz school holidays at the start of 1402 (2023) and the subsiding of the news and event fever surrounding the 'poisoning' of students, no further news or reports regarding the perpetrators and instigators of these incidents were provided to the public by any officials of the Islamic Republic. Attacks on schools and the poisoning of students continue alongside the denial and inaction of officials. The continuation of student poisonings in schools; officials still claim it is malingering to close classes. Your submission | A citizen's account of the poisoning of students in Ardabil: This situation is our daily reality. Poisoning of schoolgirls at Ebraar school in Tehran - Tuesday, April 18. New cases of 'serial poisonings'; attacks on schools in Tehran, Kermanshah, Saqqez, and Harsin. The continuation of 'chemical attacks' on schools in Iran one day after the publication of the Ministry of Intelligence report. The Ministry of Intelligence's report on the causes of the poisonings: 'Jokes, malingering, and anti-security objectives.' Poisoning of students in four cities; an eyewitness: They did not allow the children to leave the school. New poisonings in schools in Kermanshah, Sanandaj, and Tehran; judicial cases formed for protesting students. Continuation of chemical attacks on schools; Iran Human Rights Campaign criticized the behavior of the Islamic Republic. Criticism from a former health official of the Ministry of Health: 'Your performance is neither scientific nor honorable.' The continuation of poisonings in schools in Iran; Amnesty International: Millions of schoolgirls are at risk. Amnesty International: The aim of the chemical attacks is likely to punish girls protesting compulsory hijab. Poisoning of dozens of schoolgirls in seven cities; attacks with unknown gases continue. Serial poisonings in Iranian schools; several more students were transferred to medical centers.