“The enemy’s new conspiracy of creating fear in the hearts of students… and their parents is a crime and an inhumane act,” Raeisi said in an address to a cabinet session on Sunday.
The president ordered Iranian officials to swiftly probe into the case and inform people about its whereabouts to allay their concerns.
He emphasized that the move is “another link in the chain of the enemy’s plots” which has been carried out to create chaos in the country, manipulate public opinion, and instill fear among the students.
He stressed the importance of finding the main perpetrators of the act and dealing with them seriously.
Since November 2022, some Iranian students have reported symptoms of poisoning while in school. The outbreak started in Qom before expanding to other cities.
In most cases, students suffered respiratory problems, nausea, fatigue and dizziness, while some were hospitalized.
On Friday, President Raeisi announced that he had tasked the ministers of intelligence and interior with pursuing the poisoning cases.
“Through its hybrid war, the enemy sought to create despair among the people. And recently through its psychological war… the enemy sought to create stress and fear among students and parents so as to spark riots,” he said.
MNA/PR