Iran’s Supreme Leader says alleged poisoning attacks at girls schools around the country would be an “unforgivable crime” that could only be punished by death. In what the Associated Press said were his first comments on a spate of suspected poisonings that began last November, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: “If the poisoning of students is proven, those behind this crime should be sentenced to capital punishment and there will be no amnesty for them.” Hundreds of girls from at least 50 schools have fallen sick after the attacks, but Iranian officials have only recently begun to acknowledge them. Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said investigators had collected “suspicious samples,” but did not elaborate.