Tehran, Mar 2 (IANS): Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered an immediate investigation into the cases of reported schoolgirls' poisoning in several cities.

Raisi on Wednesday issued the directive at a cabinet meeting, asking Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidito to remove parents' worries and public concerns about the cases, according to the website of the President's office.

Over the past three months, several mysterious poisoning cases have been reported in a number of girls' schools in different Iranian cities, mainly in the northern province of Qom, Xinhua news agency reported.

The first case was reported on November 30, 2022, in Qom, where 18 schoolgirls were transferred to medical centres after displaying poisoning symptoms, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Later, other schools in Qom, the western province of Lorestan, the northwestern province of Ardabil, the western province of Kermanshah and even the capital Tehran also reported similar cases, the IRNA said.

As of now, more than 700 students in more than 30 schools across the country have fallen victim to such incidents, it added, noting in most of the cases, the students were released from the hospital soon after receiving treatment.

The IRNA cited Health Ministry Spokesman Pedram Pakaein as saying that the reported poisoning is "not caused by a virus or a microbe and the symptoms are transient".