In yet another instance of gender discrimination reaching dangerous levels in Iran, schoolgirls are being poisoned to discourage education of girls and women.
A deputy minister on 26 February 2023 reportedly said that by poisoning students, "some people" wanted all institutes, especially girls' schools, to be shut in the city of Qom.
Since November 2022, hundreds of cases of respiratory poisoning of schoolgirls have been reported from Qom, which lies south of Tehran.
Some of the girls were even hospitalised.
Deputy health minister Younes Panahi did not provide further details. There has been no information about arrests related to the poison attacks.
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