The night before a swell of protests against the Iranian regime was set to take place, 1,200 Iranian university students were struck with food poisoning.
The national student union announced that students at Kharazmi and Ark universities were experiencing food poisoning symptoms, including vomiting, severe body aches, and hallucinations on Dec. 1. At least four other universities have reported similar incidents, per the New York Post.
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Iranian officials are pointing to water-borne bacteria as a source of the poisoning, but the student union is claiming they were targeted. Students threw the provided food into the streets in protest, per the Arab News.
“Our past experiences of similar incidents at the Isfahan university negates the authorities’ reason for this mass food poisoning,” the union wrote on Telegram.
Several university clinics were closed or ran out of supplies used to treat dehydration, fueling suspicions that the outbreak was intentional to disrupt the national protest movement.
A three-day strike was set to begin on Wednesday, part of a wider movement that has made international headlines. The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in custody in September after not adhering to Iran’s strict dress code, launched a series of protests against the regime over the last two months.
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Amini was arrested by Iran’s morality police. Reports circulated that the regime would be disbanding the group, but the regime has since denied those claims.
During Iran’s brief 2022 World Cup appearances last month, players and fans refused to sing Iran’s national anthem. Players were reportedly threatened with “violence and torture” by the regime’s Revolutionary Guard Corps after taking a stand.
