USCIRF Outraged by Suspected Poison Attacks on Girls Attending School in Iran

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is outraged over reports of ongoing poison attacks affecting hundreds of girls at schools across at least four cities in Iran.

Extremist religious groups operating in the country support a ban on education for girls and women. The poisonings, which have been occurring throughout Iran since November 2022, have escalated with reports indicating at least 26 schools being affected in a single day in March 2023. Iranian government officials have opened a special investigation and confirmed the poisoning may indicate “criminal and premeditated acts,” but has continued to tolerate attacks against women and girls for months.  

“USCIRF is horrified by the egregious assaults on girls and women in Iran based on a singular interpretation of religious law. These poisonings are occurring in an environment where Iranian officials have impunity for the harassment, assault, rape, torture, and execution of women peacefully asserting their freedom of religion or belief,” said USCIRF Commissioner Sharon Kleinbaum. “The United States and like-minded governments must pressure Iran’s government to take full responsibility for stopping the poisonings and hold perpetrators accountable in a manner consistent with international law.”

Since security forces mortally wounded Mahsa Zhina Amini in September 2022, Iranians have been protesting restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, including mandatory hijab laws and other government policies. Iran’s government has responded with a systematic campaign of repression, including sexual and gender-based violence that often targets minors. The ongoing poison attacks on girls have caused headaches, nausea, backaches, heart palpitations, lethargy, severe chest pain, and difficulty moving. Iran’s government initially dismissed reports of poisonings in November 2022 as rumors, acknowledging the seriousness of the events only in recent weeks. Plainclothes security forces have attacked those protesting the poisonings.

“The religiously-grounded assault on the education of girls, whether in Iran, Afghanistan, or elsewhere, is thoroughly contemptible,” said USCIRF Commissioner Eric Ueland. “The regime in Iran must stop these poisonings immediately. The U.S. government must hold fully accountable Iranian officials turning a blind eye to violence against girls and women whose religious beliefs are consistent with the pursuit of education.”

In its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. State Department redesignate Iran as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, which Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken announced in November 2022.

USCIRF recently held a hearing entitled “Religious Freedom and Women’s Rights in Iran,” highlighting the Iranian government’s imposition of religion to violate freedom of religion or belief for women and girls. 

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].