After Mahsa Amini, Iranians in the streets against schoolgirls’ poisoning
Thousands of cases have been reported across the country, up to 1,200 according to the authorities, 7,000 according to activist groups. Protests broke out yesterday in at least 20 cities. The authorities pledge action to ensure justice, but only protesters have been arrested so far. Some compare Iran’s leaders to Nigeria’s Boko Haram known for suppressing women's rights.
Tehran (AsiaNews) – More protests are breaking out in Iran as a result of suspected poison attacks against schoolgirls in different parts of the country, months after urban unrest followed the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the hands of the morality police.
Yesterday people were marching in the streets in at least 20 cities shouting anti-government slogans and chants.
Iranian authorities announced the first arrests in connection with the such attacks but did not provide details; it appears, however, that those detained are protesters.
“A number of people have been arrested in five provinces and the relevant agencies are conducting a full investigation," said Iran's deputy Interior Minister, Majid Mirahmadi.
Videos and stories posted on dissident sites and media close to the opposition show a massive law enforcement presence in Tehran and other large cities like Isfahan, Shiraz, Karaj, Mashhad, Sanandaj, and Rasht.
In Sanandaj, protesters chanted “Death to the child-killing regime” a day before International Women's Day. In places like Rasht and Isfahan, security forces attacked protesters; In Mashhad, parents held signs in Persian comparing the Iranian government to Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram, notorious for its violent opposition to women’s education.
The latest developments are a sign of the great divide between the country’s leaders and a substantial part of the population, who are still demanding justice for Amini’s death while detained by the morality police after she was arrested for not properly wearing the compulsory headscarf.
Even Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s acknowledgement that “poisonings are a grave and unforgivable crime” and that the culprits would be brought to justice have done much to allay the anger.
The authorities have reported at least 1,200 cases of poisoning over the past four months, but the actual numbers could be even higher, up to 7,000 according to activist and human rights groups.
Victims present a range of symptoms, from nausea to temporary paralysis in severe cases. At first, the authorities denied the problem, then radically changed course two weeks ago in the face of mounting evidence that was impossible to conceal.
According to the reformist daily Etemad, poisonings have been reported in at least 28 of Iran’s 31 provinces. Last Sunday alone, about 350 schools reported some cases, but in a separate assessment, the Interior Ministry said that in only 5 per cent of them was a foreign substance involved; all the others were put down to “anxiety”.
It is worth noting that young people, the so-called Generation Z (born after 1997), have played a leading role in the protest movement that emerged in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s death and in opposition to the compulsory headscarf.
Despite making the first arrests in connection with the suspected poisonings, the government has not explained their role in the affair nor the nature of their involvement.
In the meantime, courts are preparing to prosecute people accused of spreading “rumours”. A veteran journalist who covered "poisonings" in the city of Qom, where the very first cases were reported, was arrested over the weekend.
Legal proceedings have also been opened against a prominent political scientist, a reformist politician, and an actor who have criticised the government on social media for its handling of the whole affair.
.png)
12/04/2023 12:05
14/03/2023 18:19
05/12/2022 18:58
09/11/2022 17:18
