The Unanswered Mystery of Serial Student Poisonings
The Unanswered Mystery of Serial Student Poisonings: According to Iran Gate, on the first day of Esfand, and after about three months since the start of the serial poisonings of female students in Qom’s schools, the country’s Prosecutor General announced that these poisonings are likely intentional.
Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, in a letter to Hassan Gharib, the Public Prosecutor and Revolutionary Court of Qom, wrote that the received news of a concerning trend of a type of poisoning in some educational centers in Qom indicates the possibility of intentional criminal actions, which require attention and precise follow-up.
Despite this order from the Prosecutor General, the transfer of students to hospitals continues, and this issue has spread from the city of Qom to other cities as well. The suspicious serial poisonings in Iranian schools continue, and in the latest case, the head of the pre-hospital emergency center in Lorestan reported the poisoning of 52 more students at Ahmadiyeh School in Borujerd.
Mehdi Gheibi said that so far, 52 more students from the Ahmadiyeh Girls High School in Borujerd have been poisoned. This official emphasized that the number of poisoned students is increasing every moment. According to Gheibi, yesterday, on the second of Esfand, 21 students from this school were also poisoned. Considering that the student poisonings started widespreadly from the city of Qom, the Qom University of Medical Sciences announced after a long time that today no student was poisoned or sent to the hospital and expressed hope that this trend will continue in the coming days.
Currently, in Qom, among the poisoned from previous days, 6 students are hospitalized, and their general condition is good, and they will be discharged after full recovery. On Monday, the first of Esfand, the Qom University of Medical Sciences also announced that 25 students from 5 schools in Qom went to medical centers due to poisoning, and in the first hours, 18 were discharged, and 7 students are under observation in the hospital, and their general condition is good.
On Sunday, the 30th of Bahman, the Qom University of Medical Sciences announced that 11 students with symptoms of poisoning, including respiratory symptoms, throat irritation, and nausea, were transferred to medical centers. According to this report, the Minister of Health, with a special order, appointed his deputy for treatment to follow up on this issue at the national level, but no effective action has been reported yet. Provincial managers say they do not know the cause of the issue, but despite the repeated poisonings from inhaling an unknown toxic gas since Azar, they refrain from closing schools. The mysterious student poisonings began on the 9th of Azar from the Noor Girls Technical School in Yazdanshahr and have been repeated multiple times since.
From School to Friday Prayer Pulpit
Mohammad Saeedi, the Imam of Friday Prayer in Qom, accused free media outside of Iran of rumor-mongering about the incidents in Qom during the Friday prayer on the 28th of Bahman and said that families should not pay attention to baseless rumors regarding student poisonings.
However, on Monday, the first of Esfand, the student poisoning incident in Qom, after being repeatedly denied and downplayed by the Ministry of Health and Education officials, entered a new phase, and the country’s Prosecutor General announced the possibility of it being intentional.
In a report quoted from the University of Medical Sciences in Iranian media, the names of these schools and the exact reason for the students’ transfer were not mentioned. According to the announcement from the Qom University of Medical Sciences, these students are currently under observation in the hospital.
Strange Statements from Qom’s Representative
The representative of the people of Qom in the Parliament said about this issue that the cause of the incident is still unknown and nothing has been found. Security and health officials are following up. Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani added that since personal opinions cannot be expressed on this matter due to the lack of accessible information, I also have no opinion on it. He continued, however, what is seen in this case is that it has been exaggerated.
Amirabadi Farahani added that yesterday, 28 students were transferred to the hospital, and out of this number, only 8 said that their hands and feet were trembling and they were feeling stressed, and some also had underlying illnesses.
This member of Parliament continued that we can analyze this issue with an example: for instance, in a group, if 8 to 10 people say that they are suffocating, others with underlying illnesses may also feel suffocated and say that they are suffocating. Based on this, this issue can be termed as a phobia. Amirabadi Farahani emphasized that this matter is under investigation, but its definite cause is not yet known.
Security Forces Enter the Case
The government spokesperson said the Minister of Intelligence provided an initial report on the preliminary investigations regarding the incidents that occurred in the girls’ high schools in Qom, and during today’s visit of the Minister of Health to Qom, representatives from the Education and Intelligence of Qom Province will cooperate with him.
He added that considering some discussions about incidents that had previously occurred in some girls’ high schools in Qom Province and the mission given to the Ministry of Intelligence in this regard, the Minister of Intelligence provided an initial report on the investigations in this area, which included various hypotheses that existed in the medical fields, relying particularly on the medical capacity of Qom Province and their cooperation for examination.
The government spokesperson reminded that the Minister of Health also went to Qom today in person and as a representative of the government to better examine the issue. Fortunately, no student remains hospitalized.
Bahadory Jahromi continued that representatives from the Ministry of Intelligence and Education will also cooperate with the Minister of Health on this trip. What is certain is that the knot of these serial poisonings is becoming more tangled, and despite the passage of time, not only has no clue been found about the cause of these incidents, but the scope of the events is expanding.
The series of articles on student poisonings have been exclusively examined in Iran Gate. You can also read other parts of this article.
- The Intentionality of the Serial Student Poisoning Disaster, Part Three
- The Silence of Officials Regarding the Serial Student Poisonings, Part Two