Teachers protest suspected poisonings

Iranian teachers protested Tuesday over suspected poisonings targeting schoolgirls, as a prominent lawmaker and an activist group put the number of those reporting symptoms into the thousands across hundreds of schools.

The new figures dramatically escalate the ongoing crisis gripping the highest levels of Iran’s theocracy, already under pressure after months of demonstrations following the death of Mahsa Amini in September.

Meanwhile, prosecutors started filing criminal charges against journalists, activists and others over their comments on the still-unsolved incidents that began in November.

The incidents at schools, with new ones reported Tuesday, threaten to again stoke public anger as parents fear for their children’s safety. It remains unclear who may be behind the suspected attacks and what chemicals have been used.