Iranian Govt Blames Protest Leaders for 'Poisoning Attacks'

Hundreds of cases of respiratory distress have been reported in the past three months among schoolgirls across Iran (AFP)
Hundreds of cases of respiratory distress have been reported in the past three months among schoolgirls across Iran (AFP)
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Iranian Govt Blames Protest Leaders for 'Poisoning Attacks'

Hundreds of cases of respiratory distress have been reported in the past three months among schoolgirls across Iran (AFP)
Hundreds of cases of respiratory distress have been reported in the past three months among schoolgirls across Iran (AFP)

The Iranian government accused the protest leaders of the mystery poisoning incidents in schools, affecting thousands of female students.

Iranian Government Spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi blamed the protesters for creating tensions in girls' schools and a tense atmosphere, but they failed.

Asked about the investigation of the follow-up committee ordered by the Iranian president, the spokesman said that the situation has stabilized in schools, adding that these brutal attacks revealed the truth about some people who claim to support and develop women.

Judiciary Spokesman Masoud Setayeshi criticized the description of the attacks as "poisoning," saying it was better to use a term that describes the deterioration in health. He indicated that poisoning must have determined symptoms identified by the specialized laboratories.

Setayeshi said that the authorities arrested eight people in the southern Fars governorate in connection with the attacks that began at the end of November.

He added that the investigation results would be announced, asserting that those who threaten the security of the people will face the most severe penalties.

Meanwhile, senior officials used the word "poisoning," including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, when referring to the incidents.

Khamenei said on Monday that poisoning schoolgirls are an "unforgivable" crime that should be punished by death if deliberate.

Iranian official sources said that the mysterious cases of poisoning in the country amounted to 13,000 suspected cases, including 100 young schoolgirls, who are now receiving treatment in hospitals, according to Tasnim news agency affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Last Saturday, the Human Rights Committee of the Iranian judiciary said in a report that less than 10 percent of the female students were infected with an irritant of dangerous and non-lethal war gases.

Furthermore, a member of the parliamentary fact-finding committee, Mohammed Hasan Asafari, said that the main culprits in the case had not been arrested, noting that some of the poisonings were due to the use of "naphthalene" and "aluminum phosphide.",

Asafari that some cases were due to the students' attempts to disrupt the school day, noting that 100 persons have been arrested, including students.

He told the state-run ISNA news agency that some detainees were linked to the recent protests that rocked the country after the death of a young Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, while in the custody of morality police.

The lawmaker said that the involvement of the foreign intelligence services is still not apparent, and the matter is under investigation.

Asfari confirmed the attacks dropped after the Supreme Leader's speech last week.

On Monday, the Interior Ministry said that more than 100 people involved in the recent school incidents had been identified, arrested, and under investigation.



Traffic on French High-Speed Trains Gradually Improving after Sabotage

Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
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Traffic on French High-Speed Trains Gradually Improving after Sabotage

Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)

Traffic on France's TGV high-speed trains was gradually returning to normal on Saturday after engineers worked overnight repairing sabotaged signal stations and cables that caused travel chaos on Friday, the opening day of the Paris Olympic Games.

In Friday's pre-dawn attacks on the high-speed rail network vandals damaged infrastructure along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled, French rail operator SNCF said.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

"On the Eastern high-speed line, traffic resumed normally this morning at 6:30 a.m. while on the North, Brittany and South-West high-speed lines, 7 out of 10 trains on average will run with delays of 1 to 2 hours," SNCF said in a statement on Saturday morning.

"At this stage, traffic will remain disrupted on Sunday on the North axis and should improve on the Atlantic axis for weekend returns," it added.

SNCF reiterated that transport plans for teams competing in the Olympics would be guaranteed.