More than 1,000 Iranian girls in schools across the country appear to have suffered “mild poison” attacks since November, when first cases emerged in Qom city, according to state media and officials.
The suspected attacks have been described by some observers as part of an extremist response – perhaps with tacit state endorsement – to the protests led by women and girls that have convulsed Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini in September.
But there are also suggestions that some cases may be evidence of mass sociogenic illness – symptoms
