Fears of ‘Poisoning’ Attacks Haunt Schools in Iran amid Hijab Controversy

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi presents a report during a meeting with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior officials in Tehran (Khamenei’s website)
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi presents a report during a meeting with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior officials in Tehran (Khamenei’s website)
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Fears of ‘Poisoning’ Attacks Haunt Schools in Iran amid Hijab Controversy

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi presents a report during a meeting with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior officials in Tehran (Khamenei’s website)
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi presents a report during a meeting with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior officials in Tehran (Khamenei’s website)

Fears of chemical attacks targeting female students resurfaced in Iran as schools resumed after a three-week Nowruz holiday. Iranian parliament and top religious figures are pressuring the government to enforce hijab laws following a rebellion by Iranian women against wearing headscarves.

Twenty female students were transported to the hospital after experiencing respiratory symptoms and shortness of breath, reported state-run ISNA news agency. The cause of the symptoms was not specified.

As per the agency's report, emergency responders rushed ambulances to a school located in the town of Baghmishah in the northwestern city of Tabriz, transporting 20 fifteen-year-old female students to a hospital.

“Emergency experts were immediately dispatched to the scene after a report that a number of students from one of the girls high schools in Tabriz were in a bad condition,” Asghar Jafari, head of the city’s emergency service, told the IRNA news agency.

In a wave of cases since late November, thousands of students across dozens of schools have suffered fainting, nausea, shortness of breath and other symptoms after reporting “unpleasant” odors, with some needing hospital treatment.

The poisonings started two months into the protests that gripped Iran following the September 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested over an alleged violation of women’s dress rules.

Initially, some officials pointed fingers at extremist groups opposing girls' education. However, later, government officials accused external parties and claimed they were also behind the protests.

A member of the parliamentary investigation committee, Mohammad Hassan Asafari, stated last month that since the end of last November, “over 5,000 female students” in “around 230 schools” across 25 out of the country's 31 provinces were affected by the incident.

The most recent poisoning cases are taking place amid mounting controversy surrounding the hijab in Iran.

The controversy over the hijab has resurfaced in recent days, as an increasing number of Iranian women are refusing to wear the compulsory head covering.



Pickup Truck Driver Killed by Police after Driving Through Texas Mall and Injuring 5

This image taken from video provided by KCEN-TV shows police responding after a man drove a vehicle into a JCPenney at a shopping mall Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Killeen, Texas. AP/KCEN-TV
This image taken from video provided by KCEN-TV shows police responding after a man drove a vehicle into a JCPenney at a shopping mall Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Killeen, Texas. AP/KCEN-TV
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Pickup Truck Driver Killed by Police after Driving Through Texas Mall and Injuring 5

This image taken from video provided by KCEN-TV shows police responding after a man drove a vehicle into a JCPenney at a shopping mall Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Killeen, Texas. AP/KCEN-TV
This image taken from video provided by KCEN-TV shows police responding after a man drove a vehicle into a JCPenney at a shopping mall Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Killeen, Texas. AP/KCEN-TV

A pickup truck driver fleeing police careened through the doors of a JCPenney store in Texas and continued through a busy mall, injuring five people before he was fatally shot by officers, authorities said.
The truck crashed into the department store in Killeen, about 68 miles (109 kilometers) north of the state capital Austin, around 5:30 p.m. Saturday and continued into the building, striking people as it went, Sgt. Bryan Washko of the Texas Department of Public Safety said in an evening news briefing.
Emergency medical services transported four victims from the mall to area hospitals and another traveled to a hospital separately. They ranged in age from 6 to 75 years old and their conditions were not immediately known, he said.
The chase began around 5 p.m. on Interstate 14 in Belton, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Killeen, after authorities received calls about an erratic driver in a black pickup, Ofelia Miramontez of the Killeen Police Department said.
The driver then pulled off the road and drove into the parking lot of the mall.
“The suspect drove through the doors and continued to drive through the JCPenney store, striking multiple people,” Washko said. “The trooper and the Killeen police officer continued on foot after this vehicle, which was driving through the store, actively running people over. He traveled several hundred yards.”
Officers from the state public safety department, Killeen and three other law enforcement agencies “engaged in gunfire to eliminate this threat,” Washko said.
One of the officers who traded gunfire with the suspect was working as a security guard at the mall and others were off duty, he said.
Washko did not have information about the suspect's identity at the time of the briefing.
Witnesses interviewed by local news outlets outside the mall said they heard multiple gunshots and saw people fleeing through the mall.