Poisoners of girls deserve death penalty, says Iran leader

ANY culprit found responsible for poisonings at girls’ schools will face the death penalty, Iran’s supreme leader said amid public concern over the unexplained illness of hundreds of students.

“If the poisoning of students is proven, those behind this crime should be sentenced to capital punishment and there will be no amnesty for them,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

It was the first time the 83-year-old leader had spoken publicly about the spate of reported incidents that started last November, affecting thousands of schoolgirls. At dozens of schools, girls have reported breathlessness, nausea, tingling extremities and even partial paralysis, sometimes after smelling a strange odour. Nearly all of those harmed have quickly recovered.

The incidents have occurred during a security crackdown in which young girls have been targeted for their role in leading nationwide anti-government protests, resulting in some regime critics to conclude that security forces of the Islamic Republic could be covertly attacking girls’ schools.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the students had been deliberately targeted: “Some people are undoubtedly involved in this crime. The country’s officials must investigate the matter of the poisoning of students. This is a huge crime, which is unforgivable.”