More than 100 people have been arrested in Iran in connection with the mysterious mass poisoning of schoolgirls that has shocked the country, Iranian authorities have announced.

“More than 100 people suspected of being responsible for the incidents at the schools have been identified, arrested and are being interrogated,” Iran’s interior ministry said in a statement, quoted by the official Irna news agency.

The ministry did not provide further information about the suspects, who were arrested in several provinces, including Tehran and Qom, in northern Iran, East and West Azerbaijan, northwestern Iran, or even those of Kurdistan and Hamadan in the western part of the country.

However, the ministry clarified that “among those arrested”, some had “hostile motives” aimed at “sowing a climate of fear among students and closing schools”. The ministry also spoke of “possible links with terrorist organizations”, referring to the “People’s Mujahideen”, an exiled group of Iranian dissidents.

In its statement, the ministry expressed its satisfaction that “fortunately since the middle of last week, the number of cases has decreased significantly” and there have been “no new cases of students falling ill”.

Since the end of November when this case broke out, many schools, mostly for girls, have faced sudden poisonings from the fumes, which have caused sickness and fainting, and sometimes even hospitalization, of students.

Authorities say they have recorded a total of “over 5,000 cases of students” affected in “about 230 schools” in 25 of the country’s 31 provinces.

After the proliferation of cases, parents of students and residents mobilized to express their concern and to ask the authorities to take action.

On March 6, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, addressed the world calling for “severe punishments,” including the death penalty, for those found responsible for the poisonings, which he described as “unforgivable crimes.” .