Iran’s school poisonings expose a chasm between the regime and its people

If a sick, terror-minded group incubated in the regime’s own state-funded seminaries and religious foundations is behind the attacks, there needs to be harsh accountability and fundamental change, writes Borzou Daragahi

The regime has repeatedly shown itself to be unresponsive to public demands (AFP/Getty)

Sara’s daughter called her from school about a month ago. The 17-year-old was terrified. There had been the smell of noxious gas at her secondary school in the shrine and seminary city of Qom. Her classmates were suffering headaches, dizziness and nausea. Some had collapsed. Sara dispatched a taxi to bring her daughter home. She has not been back to class since, following a nationwide panic over what some are calling the serial poisonings of Iranian schoolgirls.

“She is really scared of going to school, and I am afraid to send her,” Sara, who asked that her full name not be published, says. “We don’t know what this is and who is behind it. Why girls’ schools? Why now?”

Someone or something is making Iran’s schoolgirls sick. A regime that claims to have a mandate from God is struggling to come to the grips with the nationwide uproar. The poisonings have further damaged the already battered legitimacy and authority of Iran’s rulers. The crisis also exposes the gaping mistrust between Iran’s regime and its people.