Hundreds of girls have fallen ill at schools in Iran and it is being caused by “deliberate poisoning” intended to shut girls’ schools, a senior Iranian official has said.
Younes Panahi, Iran’s deputy health minister, told reporters that “certain individuals sought the closure of all schools, especially girls’ schools” and had deliberately poisoned pupils with “chemical compounds”, the Fars news agency reported.
Officials in Iran initially dismissed these incidents, but now describe them as intentional attacks involving some 30 schools identified in local media reports.
