Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that U.S and Israeli universities in West Asia may become legitimate targets.
This threat responds to recent American and Israeli strikes on Iranian academic institutions and cultural sites.
The IRGC’s statement, aired by Iranian state media IRIB on Telegram, condemned recent attacks on Iranian universities, including a reported bombardment of Tehran’s University of Science and Technology, and accused U.S-Israeli forces of deliberately targeting the country’s educational infrastructure.
“The American-Zionist aggressor forces have targeted Iranian universities for the umpteenth time by bombing the Tehran University of Science and Technology,” the statement read, as quoted by IRIB.
The IRGC statement declared all U.S- and Israeli-affiliated universities in West Asia as “legitimate targets” unless certain conditions are fulfilled.
It urged staff, faculty, students, and nearby residents to maintain at least a one-kilometre distance from these campuses for safety.
The IRGC also demanded that the U.S government issue an official condemnation of the bombings on Iranian universities by noon Monday, March 30 (Tehran time), to avert retaliatory strikes.
“The reckless rulers of the White House should know that all the universities of the occupying regime and American universities in the West Asian region are our legitimate targets, so the destruction of two universities in retaliation for the destruction of Iranian universities. We advise all staff, faculty, and students of American universities in the region and residents of their surrounding areas to stay within a one-kilometre radius of the aforementioned universities to protect their lives,” it added, as quoted by IRIB.
Earlier, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baqaei, posted on X, accusing the United States and Israel of deliberately targeting academic institutions and scientific infrastructure during the regional conflict.
He claimed the U.S-Israeli military campaign against Iran has exposed its true aim by systematically hitting universities, research centers, historical monuments, and prominent scientists.
Baqaei called these strikes an attempt to cripple Iran’s scientific foundation and cultural heritage.
“Isfahan University of Technology and the University of Science and Technology in Tehran are just two among many universities and research centers deliberately attacked by the aggressors during the past 30 days of their illegal war on the Iranian nation. In fact, the American-Israeli aggression against Iran continues to reveal its true objective: to cripple our country’s scientific foundation and cultural heritage by systematically targeting universities, research centers, historical monuments, and prominent scientists. Countering Iran’ “nuclear program” and “imminent threat” were nothing but vicious pretexts — mere fabrications designed to conceal their real intention,” the post read.
He specifically named Isfahan University of Technology and Tehran’s University of Science and Technology, key pillars of Iran’s higher education and research ecosystem, as targets hit over the past 30 days of conflict.
Baqaei dismissed U.S and Israeli claims of countering Iran’s nuclear program or an “imminent threat” as “vicious pretexts” meant to mask a broader strategy to erode Tehran’s intellectual and cultural foundations.
