Since late November, more than 1200 students have been hospitalized in a series of chemical attacks which have mostly targeted girls’ schools, although at least one school for boys has been targeted as well. Some eyewitness accounts describe a strange object landing in school yards while others describe loud bangs. For months the attacks were ignored or downplayed by local officials, but AP reports Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has now spoken publicly on the matter saying that if those behind the attacks are caught they will face “capital punishment.” But some families of the victims think that it is the Iranian government which is conducting the attacks as revenge for the ongoing protests since many of those participating are teenage girls.
