Iran's Ultraconservatives Rebrand Ahead Of 2024 Election

Students Trade Unions Council said the attack forced the students to come out of the dormitory around 11pm following a bad smell which gave students symptoms typical of dozens of attacks which have been witnessed across schools and dormitories since November, namely nausea, vomiting and dizziness. The council said "there is still no accurate information on the number of those poisoned”.
The United Students Telegram channel published some photos of girls gathered in the open area around the dormitories with images shared on social media showing several ambulances and police cars surrounding the buildings, suggesting large numbers needed medical support.
The poison attack on female student dormitories began on Thursday, exactly three months after the attacks on schoolgirls began. The first poisonings at dorms were reported at Karaj Technical and Vocational University.
After that, a dormitory for girls at Urmia Technical and Vocational University was attacked in the early hours of Sunday. At least 29 students were hospitalized after being transferred to Urmia clinics.

Serial chemical attacks on girls’ schools and dormitories that first were reported in the religious city of Qom have since spread to at least 21 of Iran’s 30 provinces.

On Monday, Iran's ruler Ali Khameini finally spoke out, saying: "The country’s officials must earnestly investigate the matter of the poisoning of students. This is a huge crime which is unforgivable. If the poisoning of students is proven, the perpetrators of this crime must be given the maximum punishment without pardon."

However, the government has made no arrests so far and Khamenei's hardliner supporters have tried to explain away or minimize the attacks.

The political editor of a leading reformist daily Etemad in Tehran, Sara Massoumi, noted that hours after a joint press conference by Grossi and Iranian nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami, the official website of President Ebrahim Raisi and all of Iran's news agencies deleted parts of what they had earlier published as Grossi's statement in the news conference.

In the deleted parts Grossi was quoted as having said, "We have had very constructive and positive meetings with Iranian officials," and "It is quite clear who should be blamed for the current situation of the JCPOA." Another deleted sentence blamed "sinister elements" for preventing IAEA's cooperation with the Islamic Republic.

On Sunday, foreign policy analyst Amir Ali Abolfath said in an interview with conservative Nameh News website that Iran should not pin its hopes on the visit, adding that "regardless of the success or failure of Grossi's trip, there is no bright outlook for the Islamic Republic's relations with the IAEA."

Abolfath noted that the IAEA is a UN body and various countries do not have equal weights at the United Nations particularly in the areas linked to security issues. He added that one cannot expect the IAEA to be satisfied about Iran's nuclear activities as long as tensions between Tehran and Washington are not reduced.

Meanwhile, former diplomat Fereydoun Majlesi pointed out in an interview with Khabar Online that "Iran's main problem is to have US sanctions lifted and not a visit to Tehran by Grossi." Majlesi also pointed out that Tehran should know that it cannot endlessly attack its adversaries without any repercussion.

He added that if the UN trigger mechanism or ‘snapback’ of international sanctions is activated, Iran will be in a difficult position and will have to reach out to foreign powers to solve its problems. Majlesi reiterated: "I have said many times in more than two years that the JCPOA is a burnt out case. Iran's problems are now about the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and other nuclear commitments. Leaving the NPT is extremely dangerous for Iran and might lead to snapback before the end of 2023.

Grossi's visit, he said was mainly about making matters clear after 84-percent enriched uranium was detected in Iran and Grossi wanted to warn Tehran that this requires more rigorous monitoring and inspection of its nuclear activity.

Meanwhile, the editor of hardline daily Kayhan Hossein Shariatmadari wrote in a commentary on Sunday that Grossi's visit to Tehran was unnecessary and accused the IAEA chief of reporting back to Israel. He said Grossi will inform Israel before anyone else of the outcome of his visit.

In another development, the former chairman of parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said in an interview with Etemad Online that Iran's Foreign Ministry is incapable of handling nuclear negotiations with JCPOA partners, and the matter should be handed over to the Supreme Council of National Security, a body closely linked to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Falahatpisheh said that the Foreign Ministry has so far missed all the opportunities it had to settle the nuclear disputes and reach an agreement with the United States and Europe.

He also said in another interview with Rouydad24 that the JCPOA should be removed from the gambling table of world powers and from the political rivalries between various political factions in Iran.

The Constitutional Court of Belgium on Friday rejected a request to annul a prisoner exchange treaty with the Islamic Republic signed last year that can lead to the release of an Iranian diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, convicted of terrorism, for Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, held hostage in Iran.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said Monday that the ground is ready to execute the prisoner exchange pact.

"With the recent development, we hope to see an opening in connection with the case of this diplomat," added Nasser Kanaani.

However, the Belgian Supreme Court said in its ruling that plaintiffs can appeal to lower courts to block Assadi’s repatriation to Iran.

Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele was arrested on a visit to Iran in February 2022 and sentenced in January to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes on charges including spying.

Brussels gave a 20-year jail term to Assadi in 2021 over a foiled bomb plot in the first trial of an Iranian official for suspected terrorism in Europe since Iran's 1979 revolution.

Under a treaty Belgium and Iran signed in 2022, Vandecasteele would have been eligible to be swapped for Assadi but in December Belgium’s constitutional court suspended the implementation of the treaty until it could make a ruling.

Some Belgian lawmakers voiced concern that the prisoner exchange treaty might lead to "hostage diplomacy" and put other Belgians at risk of detention.

The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Associations issued a statement on Monday, demanding an “an end to biological repression and the threat to the lives of citizens, especially students."

The council urged a transparent and independent fact-finding mission comprised of civil, trade union and political activists along with a group of doctors and experts as well as human rights lawyers to thoroughly investigate the issue and publish the results to the public. The large scale of the attacks and number of affected students cast doubts on the regime’s argument that the assaults are the results of arbitrary actions by hardliners who are against girls’ education, read the statement. 

The group had already issued statements about the March 7 gathering, calling on teachers and the people of Iran to stage rallies outside the parliament in Tehran and in front of the education department offices in other cities to demand action on school attacks.

Teachers are also distraught about their falling purchasing power amid a sharp decline of Iran’s currency and raging inflation. This will also be a part of their protest.

Describing the attacks as “bioterrorism,” the national teachers’ union also criticized the government for three months of denials. “There is strong suspicion that the purpose of the attacks is quashing the Woman, Life, Freedom movement by instilling fear among girls and their families,” the statement said while demanding Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top religious figures to condemn the attacks expressly and decisively.

Several other groups, including the Council of Freethinking Students of Iran and provincial guilds for teachers, also called for demonstrations to condemn the regime’s reluctance to act about the mass poisonings. The Council of Freethinking Students said that the gas attacks is the continuation of the regime project to indoctrinate students that started by “the introduction of Taliban ideology and employment of 20,000 mullahs into the education system as teachers."

"The tragedy of poisoning students by the rusty brains of lying and hypocritical authoritarian rulers, is an attempt to take revenge for the women, life, freedom uprising," added their statement.

There are other calls for protests to mark International Women's Day on Wednesday, with imprisoned journalist and human rights activist Narges Mohammadi urging more "street protests in Iran" over the poisoning of schoolgirls. In a post on her Instagram page Mohammadi called for "immediate practical action by all international human rights organizations and the United Nations" regarding the serial poisoning of students, especially girls. "Let's stop the crime against our girls with widespread protests and street presence across the country," she addressed the people of Iran.

Also on Monday, Iran's ruler Ali Khamenei finally spoke about the poisoning of schoolgirls, describing it as an "unforgivable" crime and denying any government role in the attacks. "Authorities should seriously pursue the issue of students' poisoning. This is an unforgivable crime... the perpetrators of this crime should be severely punished," Khamenei said.

If the attacks cease to happen from now on, it shows that the perpetrators are followers of Khamenei, strengthening speculations that they were acting following his remarks about “small punishment of youngsters” who took to the streets for anti-regime protests. 

"Authorities should seriously pursue the issue of students' poisoning. This is an unforgivable crime... the perpetrators of this crime should be severely punished," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted as saying by state media.

The first incidents of chemical attacks on girls’ schools began in November, but officials first ignored the incidents until they began to spread to several cities in February. Khamenei had so far remained silent while other officials were blaming foreign enemies and regime opponents without showing any proof.

Over a thousand Iranian girls in different schools have suffered "mild poison" attacks since November, according to state media and officials, with some politicians suggesting they could have been targeted by religious groups opposed to girls' education.

However, citizens and critics on social media ask why the government has failed to arrest the perpetrators of such a large and coordinated campaign, while it was efficient in killing and detaining antigovernment protesters.

Other say the hardliner establishment is behind the attacks to take revenge from schoolgirls who joined the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in October and November.

The spreading attacks that started in the holy Shi'ite Muslim city of Qom in central Iran have spread to at least 25 of Iran's 31 provinces, prompting some parents to take their children out of school and hold protests against the establishment.