The girls said they first noticed a smell similar to rotten fruit or rotten eggs, before experiencing symptoms of poisoning such as nausea, vomiting, difficulty breathing, headaches and fainting. Some rescuers also reportedly fainted. Many schoolgirls were taken to hospital unconscious. Parents are increasingly demonstrating outside schools and government buildings. They blame the Iranian regime for the attacks.

Regime terror against the people
The Mullah regime initially denied the poison gas attacks, feigning ignorance while blaming "foreign powers" for the poisonings. At the same time, it prevents independent international investigations. 
In the autumn of 2002, Iranian female students were particularly active and committed in protesting against the regime. The students' resistance to the dictatorship continues unabated, and the regime fears that the protests will spread across the country.

The first poisonings took place in girls' schools in the city of Ghom, a centre of extremists loyal to the regime. The first reports emerged in November 2022, when nationwide protests against the regime were in full swing. At the time, many girls' schools were also protesting.

The current poisonings in girls' schools are similar to the acid attacks that many Iranian women have suffered in recent years for refusing to wear the veil. In 2014, for example, dozens of women were attacked with acid and seriously injured in the city of Isfahan. These organised attacks were also covered up by the mullah regime and no one was held accountable.

It is important to note that on 14 March, coinciding with a legal conference at the UN, exiled Iranians and volunteers from Verein Welle held a vigil and exhibition in the Place des Nations in front of the UN's European headquarters in Geneva to protest against the poison gas attack on schoolgirls in Iran. They called the attack a crime against humanity and urged the UN to take immediate action.