Payam Javan: While authorities conceded that more than 50 schools may have been affected in a wave of potential cases, the issue over suspected poisonings aimed at Iranian schoolgirls grew more serious on Sunday.

Since the suspected poisonings started in November in the city of Qom, it is still unknown who or what is to blame. According to reports, suspected cases have been reported in schools in 21 of Iran’s 30 regions, with girls’ schools being the scene of almost all the events.

According to the state-run IRNA news agency, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi stated on Saturday that investigators found “strange samples” when looking into the occurrences but did not provide any further details. He urged people to be calm while also charging the “enemy’s media terrorism” with spreading further fear about the purported poisonings.