Iran arrests over 100 suspects in poisonings of hundreds of schoolgirls

Colombo (News 1st) - Iran has arrested over 100 suspects in the poisonings of hundreds of schoolgirls across the country, days after the country's supreme Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed that the culprits would receive the sternest punishments, state-run IRNA agency said on Saturday.

The arrests took place in several cities including Tehran. It was not immediately clear if the suspects are part of a co-ordinated effort to poison the schoolgirls at girls-only schools.

“Initial inquiries show that a number of these people, out of mischief or adventurism and with the aim of shutting down classrooms and influenced by the created psychological atmosphere, have taken measures such as using harmless and smelly substances,” a statement from the Ministry of the Interior said.

The poisonings began last November initially in the holy city of Qom.