‘Poison’ mystery leaves schoolgirls living in fear
Dozens of incidents across Iran have raised suspicions regime could be taking revenge for protests
It should have been an ordinary Tuesday in class for the pupils of Khayyam girls’ school in Pardis, a city an hour east of Tehran. But then something terrifying happened.
Shortly after 9.30am some of the girls reported a strange smell. Then some felt sick. Soon the whole student body rushed outside in a panic, believing they were being poisoned.
The fear was palpable in footage widely shared online. “I can’t breathe!” a girl repeatedly sobs in one clip.
“They released gas, everyone is sick!” says a distraught female voice in another clip as a crying girl sits on the pavement holding a cup of water.
The shot then moves to show outraged parents collecting their daughters as paramedics stand by.
Dozens of such incidents have happened across Iran in the past three months. Most recover without lingering effects, though some end up in hospital and there is at least one disputed account of a death.
Pupils report symptoms from burning eyes and lungs to nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, numbness and even paralysis of limbs.
No evidence of poisons has been publicly revealed, and with no clear mechanism of illness, it is unclear what – or who – is behind it.
Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian president, this week ordered an investigation, and the issue has also attracted international attention.
The White House called the news “concerning” and John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, added: “Little girls going to school should only have to worry about learning. They shouldn’t have to worry about their own physical safety.”
The predominant theory among regime critics is that girls are being poisoned by their own government in retaliation for their role in leading anti-regime protests.
A teachers’ union has called for protests on Tuesday outside parliament and the education department to demand answers. “There is strong suspicion that the purpose of the attacks is quashing the Woman, Life, Freedom movement by instilling fear,” the union said.
But some observers propose an alternative explanation. Amid intense fear over a security crackdown targeting anyone involved in the demonstrations, at least some of the students may be experiencing a mass psychological illness. Havana Syndrome – ailments that have hit US personnel at embassies around the globe – has also been cited as a possible example of such a phenomenon.
Iran has been in an state of turmoil since protests broke out in September following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who had been detained by police for wearing “inappropriate attire”.
As demonstrations calling for an end to public dress codes grew and protesters called for the downfall of Iran’s theocratic regime, young girls assumed a leading role.
Security forces responded violently, raiding schools and arresting girls. Last October, security forces were accused of beating to death Asra Panahi, a teenager from north-west Iran, after she refused to sing a pro-regime anthem. Officials insisted she died from a chronic heart disease.
It was after this that the first suspected poisoning occurred. On Nov 30, 18 students at Noor girls’ school in Qom fell ill. Two weeks later, 51 girls from the same school were taken to hospital.
Since then the incidents have grown more frequent, with activist group 1500Tasvir reporting that 32 schools were affected on Wednesday alone.
The group Human Rights Activists in Iran told The Sunday Telegraph it has counted 2,426 students reporting poisoning symptoms at 69 facilities, including at two boys’ schools.
Yesterday, dozens more schoolgirls across five provinces were admitted to hospital in a new wave of suspected poisonings, according to local media.
Tuesday’s incident at Khayyam school appears to be typical. The Telegraph has relied on social media and Iranian media accounts, verifying video via satellite imagery, but was not able to speak directly with witnesses. Three activist and human rights groups refused to connect their sources to Western media for fear of reprisals.
The videos showed that amid widespread panic, there was no clear picture of what exactly had happened. In all, 35 girls were taken to hospital, according to the local head of education in Pardis. But others were afraid to be taken away, according to another account shared online.
“They’re poisoning the girls, they’re all lying down on the ground, they’re chanting death to Khamenei,” one girl said as she filmed the school yard.
In another clip, a digitally altered man’s voice said: “Today they threw tear gas in the school. They poisoned everyone, they’re going to hospital.”
The girls are all reported to have since made a full recovery.
Iranian state media featured officials pledging to investigate, blaming foreign agents and expressing scepticism. “Fifth Season of the Girls Getting Poisoned Series is Out,” ran a mocking headline on broadcaster IRIB.
“Over 99 per cent of this is caused by stress, rumour and psychological war started particularly by hostile TV channels, to create a stressful situation,” Majid Mirahmadi, the deputy interior minister, told state TV. But with trust in the government low, official statements have done little to reassure pupils and parents.
Some have pointed out the similarities with dozens of reports – never confirmed – of girls being poisoned at schools in Afghanistan under the Taliban during the 1990s.
However, largely Shi’ite Iran does not have the same history of extremist opposition to women’s education.
The description by some girls of a fruity odour has also led to speculation about tabun nerve agent – deployed by Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war.
But Dan Kaszeta, an associate fellow at the UK’s Rusi defence think tank with three decades of experience in chemical and biological warfare, said this was unlikely. “I haven’t seen a suggestion … of a smell that sounds like tabun,” he said. “Plus if tabun was used we’d see a lot of dead bodies.”
Mr Kaszeta said the symptoms suggested a psychogenic illness, adding: “If you’ve got children in school and you tell them, ‘Strange things have been happening at other schools, if you smell something funny…’ You’re preconditioning them.”
He suggested hyperventilation – “a common anxiety reaction in children” – could cause some of the reported symptoms. He added: “I strongly suspect we won’t get a definitive answer on any of this ever.”
‘Little girls going to school should only have to worry about learning – not about their physical safety’