Unbelievable allegations of mass poisoning of schoolgirls in an Iranian city in retaliation for their participation in recent anti-headscarf protests have come to light.

The incident happened in the city of Qom, but there are reports of similar incidents in other parts of the country.

At the same time, videos of “another chemical attack” on a girls’ school are circulating on Twitter today.

“Several” girls were deliberately poisoned to prevent them from going back to school, and authorities are investigating the allegations, according to the education minister.

According to the Daily Mail, Iran’s Health Minister Younes Panahi said: “After the poisoning of many schoolgirls in Qom, it was found that some wanted to close all schools, especially girls’ schools.”

He said the poison used was not the same compound as chemical warfare agents and “a large proportion of the chemical agents used to poison the girls are treatable”.

On February 14, parents of schoolgirls who had fallen ill gathered outside the city’s government headquarters to “demand an explanation” from the authorities, IRNA reported.

The next day, government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said the education and information ministries were trying to find the cause of the poisonings.

Last week, Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri ordered a judicial inquiry into the incidents.

No arrests have been made at this time.