Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi accused foreign enemies of plotting and carrying out the poisoning of schoolgirls in different cities across Iran.
Hundreds of schoolgirls in different cities across Iran have been targeted by mild poison attacks from unknown sources in recent months. Addressing the problem this Friday, Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi blamed ‘Iran’s foreign enemies’ and accused them of being behind the poisoning story of girls in more than 30 schools across the country.
“The enemy sought to create despair among the people with its hybrid war, and recently in the psychological warfare against our security in some schools, they created stress and fear among students and parents in the hope of causing chaos.” Raisis said, speaking to a crowd in southern Iran this Friday. He also noted that “in the issue that happened in some of our schools, I have instructed the Minister of Information and the Minister of the Interior to follow up as soon as possible and provide reports in full detail to the Iranian people.”
Separately, a senior Iranian official said a fuel tanker found next to a school in a Tehran suburb and which had also been spotted in two other cities was probably involved in the poisonings. Authorities seized the tanker and arrested its driver, according to Iran’s state media report.
The so-far unexplained “mild poison” attacks on hundreds of Iranian girls at over 30 schools in at least five cities started in November last year in Iran’s Shiite Muslim holy city of Qom and spread to Tehran, Kermanshah, Broujerd, and Ardebil. Out of panic, some parents have taken their children out of school.
Germany joined the US to call for clarification
In a more-catholic-than-the Pope stance regarding the poisoning story of Iranian schoolgirls, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for clarification. “The reports of schoolgirls being poisoned in Iran are shocking,” Baerbock said on Twitter, adding also that “girls must be able to go to school without fear — whether in Tehran or Ardabil. This is nothing less than their human right,” and that “all the cases must be fully investigated,” she said.
A day earlier on Thursday, The US expressed deep concerns regarding the poisoning reports in Iran. “It’s deeply concerning news coming out of Iran,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.
“Truth is; we don’t know right now what caused those ailments. We see reports that the Iranian government is investigating it, that’s the right course of action,” he added.
But as Raisi indirectly lashed out at Washington for the whole matter of the poisoning in Iran’s schools, the Iranian spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized Germany.
On his personal page on Twitter, Naser Kannani reacted to the German Foreign Minister’s tweet and wrote: “Madam Minister, this destructive and anti-security action is being investigated. The Iranian government is very serious about identifying the criminals and rooting out this malice. We will not allow insecurity for Iranian schoolgirls with political motives.”
“But among the bitter truths that still need to be clarified are the chemical poisonings through the German toxic gases, which the German government is responsible for and still taking casualties.” Kannani also noted, adding that “your expression of concern in this matter is hypocritical and interventionist.”
Kannani was indeed referring to Germany’s role in providing chemical weapons for Saddam Hossein during the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq in the 80s. Back then, the Iraqi dictator bombed several Iranian cities with poisonous chemical gases, most of which were later found to have been imported to Iraq from Germany.
