The Iranian Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday the first arrests in the investigation into the series of poisonings that have affected thousands of schoolgirls for three months.
“Several people have been arrested in five provinces and the services are continuing their investigation,” Deputy Interior Minister Majid Mirahmadi told state television.
He did not give details of their identity, the circumstances of their arrest and their alleged involvement.
This mysterious affair provokes strong emotion in Iran, where parents of students have mobilized to call on the authorities to act.
In total, “more than 5,000 students have been affected” in “some 230 schools” located in 25 of the country’s 31 provinces since the end of November, said Tuesday Mohammad-Hassan Asafari, a member of the parliamentary commission of inquiry in charge of to shed light on the causes of this wave of poisonings.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday called for “severe sentences” against those found guilty in the case.
They “must be sentenced to severe penalties” and “there will be no amnesty” for them, warned the highest authority of Iran, who mentioned this case for the first time.