The fear was palpable in footage filmed on site and widely shared online. “I can’t breathe!” a girl repeatedly sobs in one clip.

“They released gas, everyone is sick!” says a distraught female voice in another clip showing a crying girl sitting on the pavement holding a cup of water. The shot then moves to show outraged parents collecting their children as paramedics stand by their ambulances.

Dozens of similar incidents have occurred across Iran in the past three months. Young students, mostly girls, report falling ill, often after smelling a strange odour. Most soon recover without lingering effects, though some are hospitalised, and in at least one disputed account a girl is reported to have died.

Pupils report a bewildering array of symptoms ranging from burning eyes and lungs to nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, numbness and even paralysis of limbs. No evidence of poisons has been publicly revealed, and with no clear mechanism of illness, it is unclear what – or who – is behind the rash of incidents.

Regime critics fear girls are being poisoned by their own government in retaliation for their role in leading anti-regime protests.

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