Iranian President Ebrahim Raishi has ordered a thorough investigation into the mysterious poisonings of schoolgirls in several cities, promising to keep the public fully informed after conflicting statements by government officials created an atmosphere of confusion and concern.

Over the past four months, hundreds of female students in 30 schools in four cities across the country have experienced symptoms of nausea, tachycardia or lethargy. Some have required hospitalization and have reported smelling tangerine or bleach, signs of poisoning from poisonous fumes. Authorities initially downplayed the incidents, but in recent days, after repeated press reports, some officials have spoken openly about the possibility of attacks by Islamic fanatics opposed to girls’ education.

They downplayed the problem

On Sunday, Deputy Health Minister Younes Panahi said “some people wanted to close schools, especially girls’ schools.” However, his boss, Health Minister Bahram Einolahi, argued that it was not his ministry’s responsibility to decide “where this weak poison came from.” For his part, Deputy Interior Minister Majid Mirahmadi, in statements on state television, insisted that he was downplaying the case, arguing that “99% of the cases were caused by stress and psychological warfare conducted by hostile TV channels. “

Split between Berlin and Tehran after the expulsion of two German diplomats.

The first cases of schoolgirl poisoning emerged in November in the Shiite holy city of Qom, prompting several terrified parents to withdraw their daughters from schools. Unlike Afghanistan, Iran has never had a ban on the education of girls, instead the authorities of the Islamic Republic have encouraged it. However, groups of extreme fanatics often have plans of their own. In 2014, extremists brutally attacked women in Isfahan, believing they were not dressed conservatively enough. At yesterday’s cabinet meeting, President Raisi asked the Ministry of the Interior to conduct a full investigation into the matter, with the assistance of the Ministries of Health and Information, and promised that the results of the investigation would be made public. Meanwhile, Iran expelled two German diplomats in response to Germany’s expulsion of two Iranian diplomats in connection with the death sentence handed down by Iranian-German Jasmid Sarmad, who was found guilty of joining an armed terrorist group fighting to restore the monarchy. The German Foreign Ministry called the expulsion of two German diplomats “expected but untenable” and expressed concern about Iran’s “destabilizing” activities in the region, the supply of drones to the Russian military and recent information about Iran’s nuclear program.

Enriched uranium

On Tuesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that 83.7% enriched uranium (slightly less than the 90% required to produce an atomic bomb) was found at the Fordow underground facility. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi will visit Tehran tomorrow to demand an explanation. For his part, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Commission, Mohammad Eslami, said that Iranian uranium is not enriched above 60% and suggested that the tiny particles found at Fordow were due to “unintentional fluctuations” in the enrichment process.

Speaking before the House of Representatives, US Deputy Secretary of Defense Colin Kall argued that Iran could produce enough fissile material to build an atomic bomb in about 12 days, while when the international nuclear agreement was signed in 2015, the program took a year. However, US agencies do not believe that Tehran has the technology to turn fissile material into an atomic bomb.