Poisonings in Iran: US calls for independent investigation

Dhe US government has called for an independent investigation into the mysterious poisoning of schoolgirls in Iran, and may be putting the United Nations to the test. “The poisoning of school girls in Iran is unheard of,” US President Joe Biden’s spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said at the White House on Monday. “There must be credible independent investigation and accountability for those responsible.”

If the poisoning is linked to participation in protests against the Iranian leadership, such an investigation could fall within the remit of an already established UN mission to Iran, Jean-Pierre said.

In December, the United Nations commissioned Bangladeshi lawyer Sara Hossain, Pakistani law professor Shaheen Sardar Ali and Argentine human rights activist Viviana Krsticevic to investigate the crackdown on protests in Iran.

mass poisoning

Mass poisonings at girls’ schools in Iran have been reported again and again for around three months. The authorities suspect an attempt to exclude girls from schooling. The background is so far unclear.

Iran’s supreme spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for “severe punishment” for those responsible for the poisonings in his first statement on the cases on Monday.

Since September, Iran has been shaken by violent protests, including by women. They were triggered by the death of the young Kurd Mahsa Amini in September. The 22-year-old died after being arrested by the vice squad because of an improperly worn headscarf.