Dozens of girls were poisoned at several schools in Iran which shakes a mysterious case for four months schoolgirl poisoningreported by local media.

Since the end of November, many schools in Iran, mostly girls’ schools, have been affected by sudden poisonings. inhalation of gases or other toxic substanceswhich cause nausea and fainting and in some cases require hospitalization.

Chairman of the Republican Commission for Investigation of the Case Deputy Hamidreza Kazemiannounced on state television today that the final verdict in the case would be published in two weeks.

At least “60 students were poisoned today at a girls’ school” in Khuzestan province, Iribnews reported, citing a local official. According to the same source, female students from six schools in a city in northwestern Iran were also poisoned, and an unknown number of female students were victims of gassing at a primary school in western Azerbaijan.

According to official figures as of March 7, “More than 5,000 schoolgirls have been poisoned in 230 educational institutions in 25 of Iran’s 31 provinces. The incidents stopped in early March after dozens of arrests were announced, but resumed three weeks later.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on March 6 called for harsh penalties, up to and including the death penalty, for those found guilty.

The incidents began two months after the start of a protest movement in Iran sparked by the September 16 death of Mahshi Amini, a 22-year-old girl who was arrested by Iran’s vice police, which enforce the Islamic Republic’s clothing bans for women.

AFP