Iran has announced that several people who took part in nationwide protests have been arrested for their involvement in suspected poisoning cases among schoolgirls.

More than 1,000 schoolgirls across Iran have suffered nausea, shortness of breath and other symptoms in a series of apparent poisonings.

The Interior Ministry on Tuesday said the individuals have been identified and arrested for having caused health problems to students with irritants in six provinces.

Officials say of those arrested, three took part in anti-government protests over the death of a young woman arrested for the way she wore her headscarf last September.

They say the three had ties to foreign-based dissident media, and their purpose was to throw the nation into panic.

Protests ignited by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini spread across the country. Calm was restored only after Iranian courts sentenced some individuals to death for their roles in the protests.

Some members of the public have accused pro-government radical groups of seeking to exact revenge on the many schoolgirls who took part in the rallies.