Iran: Islamic groups opposed to girls’ education suspected in wave of poison attacks on schoolgirls
BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.
As Jihad Watch reported yesterday, the Islamic Republic is now being suspected of taking the abuse of women to a new level: poisoning schoolgirls to discourage their learning.
Sky News also reported about the incident:
Up to 400 pupils at around 30 schools are said to have been affected by the “deliberate” attacks, with some needing hospital treatment after complaining about headaches, heart palpitations, feeling lethargic and being unable to move.
The first cases in November last year are believed to have happened in Qom, around 125km (80 miles) southwest of Tehran – where some fearful parents are pulling their children out of school as a precaution,
As expected, Iran is trying to defer blame and/or downplay the seriousness of the incidents.
There are many highly abusive tactics used in the Islamic world to keep women in their place, under the control of the male arbiters of the Sharia, such as stoning, honor murder, public flogging, wife beating, and female genital mutilation. Poisoning girls is in keeping with all this. The recent demonstrations against the Islamic Republic began when Mahsa Amini was murdered for not wearing her hijab properly. And long before that, as noted below, “in 2014, people took to the streets of the city of Isfahan after a wave of acid attacks, which appeared to be aimed at terrorizing women who violated the country’s strict Islamic dress code.” Days ago, female students in Iran were forced to attend sessions on wearing the hijab (Quran 24:31,33:59). The protests have gone on since mid-September.
“Wave of Poison Attacks on Schoolgirls Alarms Iranians,” Reuters, February 28, 2023:
DUBAI (Reuters) – Hundreds of Iranian girls in different schools have suffered “mild poison” attacks over recent months, the health minister said, with some politicians suggesting they could have been targeted by religious groups opposed to girls’ education.
The attacks come at a critical time for Iran’s clerical rulers, who faced months of anti-government protests sparked by the death of a young Iranian woman in the custody of the morality police who enforce strict dress codes.
The poison attacks at more than 30 schools in at least four cities started in November in Iran’s Shi’ite Muslim holy city of Qom, prompting some parents to take their children out of school, state media reported.
Social media posts showed some hospitalised schoolgirls, who said they had felt nauseous and suffered heart palpitations.
“Investigating where this mild poison comes from … and whether it is an intentional move are not within the scope of my ministry,” Health Minister Bahram Einollahi was quoted as saying by state media.
His deputy, Younes Panahi, said on Sunday “it was found that some people wanted schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed”, according to IRNA state news agency.
One boys’ school has been targeted in the city of Boroujerd, state media reported.
Lawmaker Alireza Monadi said the existence of “the devil’s will” to stop girls from going to school was a “serious threat”, according to IRNA.
He did not elaborate, but suspicions have fallen on hardline groups that operate as the self-declared guardians of their interpretation of Islam.
In 2014, people took to the streets of the city of Isfahan after a wave of acid attacks, which appeared to be aimed at terrorizing women who violated the country’s strict Islamic dress code….