POISON RIDDLE
Iran outrageously accuses British ambassador of poisoning hundreds of schoolgirls after mystery illness blamed on regime
AN IRANIAN state-run news agency has blamed the British Ambassador for the "poisoning" of hundreds of schoolgirls.
Female students across the country have been hospitalised after collapsing from unexplained illnesses.
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Iran has pushed blame onto "foreign enemies", but Mashregh News claimed British ambassador Simon Shercliff was "directly involved".
They wrote: "The British ambassador in Iran has been directly involved in the poisoning of girl students in our country.
"A review of the activities around the schools shows that the secret service of the enemy and its umbrella network is carrying out this project to test its effects in reigniting the street riots that have now subsided."
The unfounded accusation is likely to be seen as an attempt by the regime to deflect blame from itself amid mounting anger in the country.
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Many Iranians believe the regime is behind the poisonings, and is doing so to punish the girls who have been protesting in recent months.
The poisonings began in November, with over 1000 schoolgirls reporting strange odours before falling ill.
Symptoms reported include shortness of breath, tingling, nausea and more.
Mystery remains after hundreds were rushed to hospital, with no obvious answer as to what caused the mass illnesses.
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Experts estimate at least 8,000 students have been affected as more than 100 cities have been targeted.
Ambassador Shercliff previously Tweeted: "As a father, I sympathize with the entire Iranian fathers and mothers who are worried for their children at schools due to serial poisoning of the Iran girls' high schools, which seems to be endless."
The Iranian health ministry's investigation into the poisonings pointed to an "irritant substance" that was "mainly inhaled".
Mashregh News is run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who have been involved in violent crackdown on protestors following the death of Mahsa Amini.
The young woman was arrested by morality police for wearing her hijab "improperly", and severely beaten in their custody.
She succumbed to her injuries three days after her arrest, sparking the largest and most passionate revolution the Iranian Regime has seen since 1979.
It's estimated that thousands of protestors have been arrested in the chaos following her death.
The protests have rocked the country as hundreds of thousands are calling for the regime to be dismantled.
Iran is known for its extreme "morality" laws, which outlaw women showing their hair and more.
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In January, a young couple were sentenced to a decade in jail for a video of them dancing in central Tehran.
Astiyazh Haghighi, 21, and Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, 22, were each given 10 and a half years in prison for "corruption on earth and incitement to prostitution".
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