The Iranian Students’ Mental Health Report on February 4: “Women, life, freedom” and ‘Noor Yazdanshahr Conservatory in Qom

In an interview with a local Iranian newspaper, Iran’s Education Minister Yousef Nouri said that some school students have been arrested and referred to “psychological institutions.”

“It is possible these students have become ‘anti-social characters’ and we want to reform them,” he told the Shargh newspaper, adding that the students “can return to class after they’ve been reformed.”

Amini was taken to a re-education center by the state morality police for not conforming to the conservative dress code. The death of Amini sparked anti-government protests throughout the country.

CNN witnessed girls from a school in Tehran chant “woman, life, freedom,” as they protested near the school while taking their headscarves off.

The demonstrations have, at times, turned dangerous. Book shops and offices near Tehran University closed down on Wednesday when police opened fire on protesters and the anti-riot police pursued and fired rubber bullets at them. In Kaj Square, members of Iran’s Basij paramilitary organization ordered people to move along and stopped others from standing on the streets, according to the eyewitness.

The pro-reform activist outlet IranWire uploaded Videos on Wednesday showing demonstrations in Tehran and other Iranian cities.

According to the UN agency, children and teens are reported to be dead, injured and trapped in Iran during the public unrest.

Many of the reports involve students at girls’ schools, but state media have also reported at least one incident of poisoning at a boys’ school, on February 4 in Qom.

CNN has reached out to one of the schools named by state media as having had an incident of poisoning, Noor Yazdanshahr Conservatory in Qom, as well as to individual teachers, but has not heard back.

According to a report in the Iranian Students News Agency, the Health Minister of Iran said on February 15 that the symptoms included weakness of muscle, nausea, and tiredness, but that it was not the case of poisoning.

Einollahi said his team took many samples from patients in a hospital in Qom and the Pasteur Institute in Iran, which reported that no bugs or Viruses had been found in the samples.

Iran school girls poisoned schools in Iran: a case study of the women’s liberation movement, says CNN’s Dan Kaszeta

It became clear that people wanted all the schools in Iran to be closed after the poisoning of students in Qom, Panahi said at the news conference. Fars news stated that he later changed his story, saying that he was misquoted.

A growing number of people believe the poisonings may be linked to the women’s liberation movement. The movement has been characterized by women and young girls in particular expressing their anger over issues like the economy and the Islamic Republic.

These are very concerning reports, and we have seen them. poison girls who are simply trying to learn is simply an abhorrent act.”

Iranian authorities were urged to thoroughly investigate the reported poisonings and hold the perpetrators accountable.

Dan Kaszeta, a London based defense specialist and an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, spoke to CNN about the difficulties authorities may face in confirming reports like these.

“Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to investigate such incidents. The only way to find the causative agent is to collect samples at the time of dissemination, but it’s difficult or impossible.

Kaszeta explained that it is difficult to use smells as an indicator. Some things with smell add to them because of the underlying dangerous chemical.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/01/middleeast/iran-schoolgirls-poisoned-schools-intl/index.html

The Iranian Education Minister’s visit to Qom after the February school poisonings: A follow-up report on a special team

Iranian Education Minister Yousef Nouri visited some of the students who were hospitalized in Qom after the string of school poisonings in mid-February, and said that a special team had been formed in Tehran to follow up on the issue, according to a report in Tasnim, a state-affiliated media outlet.