its president Iran Ibrahim Raisi today blamed the enemies of the Islamic Republic for mass poisonings in girls’ schools across the country. UN called for a “transparent investigation” to clarify the case.

So far, unexplained poisonings in more than 30 schools in at least four cities began in November in the Shia holy Muslim city of Qom, prompting some parents to withdraw their children from school.

Iran’s health minister said on Tuesday that hundreds of girls at various schools have been poisoned and some politicians say girls could be targeted by religious groups opposed to girls’ education.

Raishi, addressing crowds in southern Iran live on state television today, blamed Iran’s enemies for the poisoning.

“This is a plan to sow chaos in the country as the enemy seeks to instill fear and insecurity in parents and students,” he said.

He did not say who those enemies were, although Iranian leaders routinely accuse the US and Israel, among others, of hostile actions against Tehran.

In another case, a senior Iranian official said that a fuel tank found near a school in a Tehran suburb, which was also seen in two other cities, may have been involved in the poisonings.

Authorities seized the tanker and arrested its driver, Pardis suburb deputy governor Reza Karimi Saleh told the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

He is the first government official to report an arrest in connection with the mass poisoning.

According to him, the same tanker was also found in Qom and Boruzerd, Lorestan province in western Iran, where students were also poisoned. He did not provide other details.

“The guards at the parking lot where the tanker was parked were also poisoned,” Saleh said, referring to Pardis.

UN calls for transparent investigation

The case has sparked outrage across the country, with many condemning the government’s silence in the face of a growing number of schools documenting such attacks.

Today in Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called for a transparent investigation into the attacks.

“We are particularly concerned by allegations that girls are being deliberately targeted under mysterious circumstances,” said Raveena Samdasani, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

She noted that the results of the government investigation should be made public and those responsible brought to justice.

The World Health Organization (WHO), for its part, is in contact with the Iranian health authorities.

WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said the agency is contacting national health authorities and medical professionals about incidents and is “using other means to better understand the event” so we have better evidence.

A little earlier, German Foreign Minister Analena Berbock called today for an investigation to “find out” all cases of poisoning of schoolgirls in Iran.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters, AFP.}