As the Iranian government faces a new wave of protests in the nearly eight months of uprisings, a Kurdish boy has died in Tehran due to one of a series of suspected poison attacks that have been going on for several months, affecting thousands of children, mostly schoolgirls.
Karo Pashabadi (16) was hospitalised on 15 March in Tehran, and died on 7 April according to Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights, a Norway-based group that monitors rights violations in Iran’s Kurdish regions. Pashabadi is the second student known to have died as a result of the alleged attacks that began in late November and targeted hundreds of elementary and high schools across the country. Iranian journalist Hedie Kimiaee tweeted on 27 February that 11-year-old Fatemeh Razaei also died of a toxic gas attack, at her school in the city of Qom.
Hengaw also reported that students from three high schools in the Kurdish city of Saqqez were taken to medical centres with poisoning on Sunday, as the wave of poisoning affecting children across the country started again after a short break for the Nowruz (Persian new year) holidays.
Meanwhile, protests sparked by the September death of 22-year-old Jina (Mahsa) Amini have been reignited by suspected poison attacks believed to be directed against female students, and also by the economic crisis.
People in Saqqez, Amini’s hometown, organised a rally on Sunday, in response to which security forces opened fire to disperse protesters, Iran International reported.
Protesters lowered the flag of the Islamic Republic in one school, which may have been one of the sites targeted by the poison attacks. The situation in the city remains tense, with protesters lighting fires in the streets and large numbers of anti-riot forces being deployed across the city.
Today, people in Saqqez pulled down the flag of the Islamic Republic from the top of the school wall in protest against the Islamic Republic's chemical attacks on schools.
April 9, 2023.pic.twitter.com/muV1VzBx7S— 1500tasvir_en (@1500tasvir_en) April 9, 2023
In the eight months of uprisings, the Iranian government has intensified measures to enforce the hijab laws in response to the increasing number of women defying the country’s compulsory dress code. Iranian police announced on Saturday that the authorities have installed cameras in streets and other public places to identify women with a view to punishing them for not wearing the hijab properly, Reuters reported.
Amini died after she was arrested by the country’s religious police for violating the dress code while visiting Tehran. She allegedly suffered brain injuries from torture during her detention.
The Iranian authorities have launched an investigation into the poisoning of schoolgirls by toxic gas in recent months, and have arrested around 100 people across the country in connection with the incidents, while at the same time accusing those protesting against the poisonings of creating fear and horror among students and the public.
Whilst according to the country’s deputy health minister, the available information on the poisonings indicates “the possibility of criminal and premeditated acts”, many Iranians suspect that the attacks are some form of punishment against schoolgirls, who played a major role in nationwide protests.
Over 5000 students have been affected and taken to medical centres due to the alleged attacks over the past five months.
