Iran’s Taliban Behind the Poisoning of Girls – Part Two

Iran’s Taliban Behind the Poisoning of Girls – Part Two

Iran’s Taliban Behind the Poisoning of Girls: According to Iran Gate, some analysts believe that a radical and powerful movement has formed within the regime that has not yet shown a clear manifestation. These experts believe that this movement has entered the field for the first time in the case of poisoning teenage girls and has launched a widespread and coordinated project to intimidate society.

Iran Gate has undertaken a three-part investigation into the case of poisoning schoolgirls. The second part of this investigation tracks a radical and fundamentalist movement in Iran, which many believe can be dubbed Iran’s Taliban. Traces of this movement are seen in an interview with a cleric close to the reformists, although he was forced to retract his claims in the Shargh newspaper hours after the interview was published.

Now the question arises whether a truly mysterious and powerful movement has been created within the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and whether the Iranian Taliban is responsible for the crimes that have occurred in girls’ schools over the past six months.

Interviews That Were Immediately Denied

On the days when the poisoning of teenage girls in schools had reached its peak, an interview was published in the Shargh newspaper that caused a lot of controversy. Mohammad Taghi Fazel Meybodi, a seminary professor and member of the Assembly of Teachers of Qom Seminary, in a conversation with Shargh, referred to the activities of a group called the Millenarians and specifically attributed the poisoning of teenage girls to this movement. However, as mentioned, he immediately denied his claims in this interview, but this action, which was clearly under pressure, not only did not close the issue but also drew more attention to it.

Fazel Meybodi, in part of this conversation, states that it is said that a group known as the Millenarians is responsible for these serial poisonings in schools. This group believes that girls should not study or at most should study up to the third grade of elementary school. This movement is a religious and anti-modernity movement.

But the story did not end there, and a government official made statements that reinforced the suspicion of the deliberate nature of the serial poisonings. Younes Panahi, Deputy Minister of Research and Technology at the Ministry of Health, in an official press conference, confirmed the deliberate nature of the students’ poisoning, stating that after repeated poisonings of students in Qom schools, it became clear that some individuals wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed.

Although Younes Panahi, like Fazel Meybodi, was forced to deny his previous day’s statements, which he had made in a press conference with reporters, in an interview with Fars News Agency. In the interview with Fars, he tried to change his stance and claimed that misunderstandings about the deliberate nature of the serial poisonings had arisen from his previous day’s statements, which had no basis in reality, and that he meant something else.

Who Are the Millenarians and What Is Millenarianism?

Millenarianism is a type of superstitious and fundamentalist outlook within various religions and faiths, based on symbolism, and it is not limited to Islam and the Shiite faith. In fact, this concept has roots in Christianity. This movement, which originated within Christianity, believes in God’s thousand-year reign on Earth and has spread to other religions and faiths over time. Millenarianism also has many fervent supporters among Muslims, to the extent that Muslim Millenarians believe there are direct references to millenarianism in a verse of the Quran.

However, by delving into the details of this concept, the high potential of Shiism for adapting to the principles and foundations of millenarianism becomes clearly identifiable. It should be noted that Millenarians believe in the imminent end of the world as we know it, due to the spread of injustice and corruption, aiming for universal justice and welfare, brought about by a reformer and supernatural savior of humanity. Comparing these propositions with the Shia beliefs about the appearance of Imam Mahdi, the twelfth Imam of the Shia, shows a significant alignment, and a clear connection can be established between the two.

Many historians also believe that the emergence of the Babi sect and later the Bahá’í Faith has roots in such beliefs. If one pays attention to the claims of Ali Muhammad Bab, he claimed to have a close connection with the Imam in the thousandth year after what is called the occultation of Imam Mahdi and could be an intermediary between the Imam and the people. Of course, these sects developed differently and in some cases even initiated reforms within the fragmented society of Iran. However, in general, such beliefs lead to the formation of radical and fundamentalist religious movements.

In this discussion, experts believe millenarianism, with a severely radical and apocalyptic interpretation, has been revived in the poisoned context of the regime established in Iran, and at times has also assisted the current politicians and rulers of Iran. However, the evidence obtained so far indicates the direct and unmediated involvement of this group in the serial poisonings of schoolgirls across the country.

Practicing Crime from the Taliban’s Handbook

After Fazel Meybodi revealed the existence of this group in Iran in the previously mentioned interview, many dubbed this fundamentalist Shia sect as Iran’s Taliban. The reason for this is the implementation of the schoolgirl poisoning project in Afghanistan, which was organized by the Taliban in 2015.

According to statements and declarations from Taliban leaders, it can be said that the goal of this terrorist group in executing these criminal acts was also to prevent sending young and teenage girls to school. Now, experts believe that radical movements in Iran have also modeled themselves after the Taliban and, with the green light from the regime, have targeted innocent students who have expressed their dissatisfaction with the current situation in the most civil way possible by removing their compulsory hijab.

In the next part of this investigation, the mechanism of how the project of poisoning teenage girls in Iran was executed and the Millenarians’ goal behind this criminal act will be examined.

A series of articles related to this topic have been written in Iran Gate, which are available to you through the links below.

• Who Is Behind the Poisoning of Students? – Part One
• Iran’s Taliban Behind the Poisoning of Girls – Part Two: You are currently reading this section.
• The Balancing Act of the Raisi Government in the Case of Serial Poisonings – Part Three