Teachers in Iran have taken to the streets in several cities and provinces in light of the recent wave of poisonings of mainly schoolgirls, in which videos on social media were shown.

Relatives of the sick children were also seen at the gatherings. They accused the authorities of not taking sufficient action against the poisonings at the girls’ schools.

The protests started on Monday evening after the news that the suspects were arrested in five provinces in connection with the mysterious wave of poisonings in Iran, the Fars News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Pictures and videos showed protests in the cities of Tabriz in north-western Iran, Mashhad in the north-east, Isfahan about 440 kilometres south of Tehran, Shiraz, about 480 kilometres south of Isfahan, the Caspian Sea and the Kurdish regions, among others.

However, more detailed information on the number of arrests and the backgrounds of the suspects was not initially available, the agency said, citing information from the deputy interior minister responsible for the security forces, Majid Mirahmadi.

Earlier, on Monday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for harsh punishments for those responsible for the poisonings, describing it as an “unforgivable crime.’’

The first cases of the mysterious poisonings, which took place almost exclusively at girls’ schools, were reported in November.

Iran’s government believes that the girls were being deliberately poisoned.

Doctors suggested that some sort of toxic gas could have been the source of the attacks.

Parents and relatives were outraged and angry, in part blaming the government for failing to protect their children.

Iranian media had now reported more than 3,100 cases of poisoning at schools.

This was the result of an analysis of reports that appeared in Iranian media from November to the beginning of March.

According to the Etemad newspaper, there were cases in more than 100 schools; while observers also assumed that there were unreported cases.

There were currently no official figures on the total extent of the poisoning spree as observers also assumed that the number of unreported cases was higher.

(dpa/NAN)