Iran warns of strikes on US-linked universities in region after campus bombings
Destruction in the Tehran University of Science and Technology due to US bombing. PHOTO: X
Iran's Revolutionary Guard has threatened retaliation against US university campuses in the Middle East, saying US and Israeli strikes have destroyed two Iranian universities.
In a statement carried by the Fars news agency, closely linked to the IRGC, it warned that US universities in the region could be targeted unless Washington issues an official condemnation of the bombings by noon on Monday, March 30.
"We advise all employees, professors, and students of American universities in the region and residents of their surrounding areas to stay a kilometre away from campuses."
🚨 FROM NOW ON ALL UNIVERSITIES OF AMERICA IN THE REGION ARE LEGITIMATE TARGETS.
"Warning to the criminal rulers of America!
The zionist American invading forces have bombed Tehran University of Science and Technology, targeting Iranian universities with their bombings for the… pic.twitter.com/ECqaxb5pOmThe statement is in response to the attack on the University of Science and Technology in Tehran.
Video of the US bombing of Iran University of "Science and Technology".
This university is one of the top five universities of technology in Iran pic.twitter.com/uWBWITF6f3Several US institutions operate branches in the Gulf, including Texas A&M University in Qatar and New York University in the UAE.
An estimated 39% of the undergraduate population, along with PhD candidates, are international students at Texas A&M Qatar, while NYU Abu Dhabi's 80% of the student body is international students, mainly from China, India, Pakistan, South Korea, Egypt, and Jordan.
Read: Middle East conflict widens as Houthis hit Israel, US prepares for possible ground war
Weeks of US and Israeli strikes have severely damaged Iran's military, but the Islamic Republic is still managing to strike Israel and Gulf countries allied with the US.
Demonstrators took to city streets across the US on Saturday in anti-Trump rallies described by organisers as a call to action against the war on Iran.
Trump has threatened to hit Iranian power stations and other energy infrastructure if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz. But he extended a deadline he had imposed for this week, giving Iran another 10 days to respond.
Iranian threats to attack ships in the strait have kept most oil tankers from attempting the waterway.
Israel has targeted Iran's nuclear infrastructure. The head of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom, which has evacuated staff from the Bushehr nuclear power plant on the Gulf coast, said the attacks threatened nuclear safety.
Pezeshkian said Iran would "retaliate strongly if our infrastructure or economic centres are targeted".
Iranian attacks were reported in multiple areas across the Gulf, including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
An Iranian airstrike hit the Israeli village of Eshtaol, near Jerusalem. Seven people were hospitalised, Israel’s ambulance service said.