(CNN) — Mohammad Hassan Asfari, a member of the Iran Fact-Finding Team investigating cases of student poisonings across the country that Iranian authorities suspect were the result of “attacks,” announced Monday. Looking at 5,000 cases, most of them were girls, girls.
Asbari, a member of the parliamentary committee, said it has been investigating complaints of poisoning in 230 schools in 25 provinces where cases have been reported since late November.
He said several tests are being conducted to determine the type of poison used in the accidents and investigators are looking into possible motives behind the poisoning incidents, adding that the team does not currently have specific information on the type of poison.
Iran’s Interior Ministry said in a statement on Monday, “No dangerous poison was found in the bodies of any of the students treated in hospitals, however, the researchers found that less than 5% of the students in the test results had the doping. It caused symptoms of discomfort with no permanent side effects.”
No further information was provided on the type of “stimulant” found.
Researchers reported that more than 90% of students felt symptoms of discomfort because of anxiety created by the school environment.
Meanwhile, the US State Department described the poisoning of the Iranian female students as “unconscionable”, and State Department spokesman Ned Price told a press conference that the poisoning of the Iranian schoolgirls was “unjustifiable”. An international mission to investigate the facts “if these poisonings are found to be linked to the participation of women and girls in protests”.
He said, “The whole world is very concerned about this poisoning. The Iranian authorities must stop suppressing the media and let them do their jobs. The same applies to medical professionals. The same applies to parents trying to take care of their children. They must take responsibility for the poisoning.” It must come to an end most importantly.
“How can the international community determine a motive if they don’t believe any Iranian investigation,” Price said: “We could see these reports, we could see the videos, we did. We could hear direct testimony.”
He continued, “I think it will become clear to the world what is happening and what is not happening, and as this information continues to emerge from Iran, we will continue to follow closely and demand appropriate and effective.”
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