Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi addresses lawmakers while defending his next year's budget bill at the parliament in Tehran, Iran, Jan 22, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
TEHRAN – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday ordered an immediate investigation into the cases of reported schoolgirls' poisoning in several cities.
Raisi issued the directive at a cabinet meeting, asking Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidito to remove parents' worries and public concerns about the cases, according to the website of the president's office.
Over the past three months, several mysterious poisoning cases have been reported in a number of girls' schools in different Iranian cities, mainly in the northern province of Qom.
So far, more than 700 students in over 30 schools across the country have fallen victim to such incidents, the IRNA added, noting in most of the cases, the students were released from the hospital soon after receiving treatment
The first case was reported on Nov 30, 2022 in Qom, where 18 schoolgirls were transferred to medical centers after displaying poisoning symptoms, the official news agency IRNA reported.
ALSO READ: Wave of poison attacks on schoolgirls alarms Iranians
Later, other schools in Qom, the western province of Lorestan, the northwestern province of Ardabil, the western province of Kermanshah and even the capital Tehran also reported similar cases, the IRNA said.
So far, more than 700 students in over 30 schools across the country have fallen victim to such incidents, it added, noting in most of the cases, the students were released from the hospital soon after receiving treatment.
READ MORE: Iran vows 'decisive, serious' response to security threats
The IRNA cited Health Ministry Spokesman Pedram Pakaein as saying that the reported poisoning is "not caused by a virus or a microbe and the symptoms are transient."