Still no explanation after new wave of Iranian schoolgirl poisonings

Iranian security organs continue to have no explanation for poisoning events at girls' schools over recent months, the Etemad newspaper reported on Monday, based on comments from Iranian parliament members.

The lack of information comes in the midst of a renewed outbreak after the end of the Persian New Year holidays. Dozens of new cases were reported last week after schools returned.

Around 100 schoolgirls were poisoned on Sunday in the Kurdish city of Saqqez, the home of Mahsa Amini, the young Kurdish woman whose death in custody last year led to mass protests, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported.

More than 20 of the girls were reported to be in critical condition. Parents who protested have been detained.

No official information on the new outbreaks in Iran's Kurdish regions has been released thus far. On Friday, the authorities said they would shortly present a report on the poisoning incidents after months of unease across the country.

The incidents have occurred almost exclusively at girls' schools. Victims have been hospitalized, and doctors have attributed the poisonings to gas. The authorities have officially recorded more than 13,000 cases.

Many families have been keeping their daughters out of school and have protested at perceived failings on the part of the government.

Amini's death while in custody in Tehran after being held by the country's moral police for reportedly failing to wear her head covering properly unleashed the worst political crisis in decades.

Many believe the poisonings are a reaction to the protests.