A group of 1,200 university students in Iran have been struck by a food poisoning outbreak on the eve of anti-regime demonstrations set to be held throughout the country, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The students at Kharazmi and Arak universities, as well as four other institutions, threw their provided food onto surrounding streets in protest, with the country’s national student union accusing authorities of deliberately poisoning people.
Officials have blamed the outbreak on water-borne bacteria.
However, clinics in several affected universities have also closed or run out of supplies to treat dehydration and other associated symptoms of food poisoning, in a sign that the outbreak may have been a deliberate strategy to thwart the national protest movement.
It came as a three-day nationwide strike was due to begin on Wednesday, intensifying public pressure against the regime.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities denied reports that the regime would disband the country’s morality police.
The students at Kharazmi and Arak universities, as well as four other institutions, threw their provided food onto surrounding streets in protest, with the country’s national student union accusing authorities of deliberately poisoning people.
Officials have blamed the outbreak on water-borne bacteria.
However, clinics in several affected universities have also closed or run out of supplies to treat dehydration and other associated symptoms of food poisoning, in a sign that the outbreak may have been a deliberate strategy to thwart the national protest movement.
It came as a three-day nationwide strike was due to begin on Wednesday, intensifying public pressure against the regime.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities denied reports that the regime would disband the country’s morality police.
