Ali Pour Tabatabaee

During the serial poisoning of (mostly) girls' schools in Iran, many students in several schools nationwide were "suspiciously" poisoned by chemical gas. The chain of events began on November 30, 2022, in a school for girls in Qom during the nationwide Women, Life, Freedom uprising. The Islamic Republic officials initially tried to deny the truth and blamed the "enemy groups" and "anti-revolutionaries" and in some cases "public hysteria" and students "faking illness" for the events; But soon after, Younse Panahi, the Ministry of Health, announced that the poisonings were intentional. In late December, the leader Ali Khamenei also talked about the role of some "individuals or groups" in these events. After his speech, the Ministry of Intelligence promised to investigate and the Minister of Interior Ahmad Vahidi, and his security and law enforcement deputy announced the arrests of the "culprits" in the poisoning of students in five provinces. After that, the Islamic Republic's propaganda machine turned the blame on the students and protesters. Many believe that the serial poisonings were a coordinated and planned campaign in reaction to the peaceful participation of students in the Women, Life, Freedom uprising and the women's collective fight against mandatory hijab and the oppressive policies of the Islamic Republic against them. <symbol-timeline></symbol-timeline>