Iran’s military has threatened to strike American and Israeli universities in the Middle East, calling them “legitimate targets.”
“From now on, all universities of the occupying entity [Israel] and American universities in West Asia will be considered legitimate targets,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement on Sunday. “We advise all employees, professors, and students of American universities in the region and residents of their surrounding areas to stay at least one kilometer away from the campuses to preserve their safety.”
The threat came after the United States and Israel hit two Iranian universities this weekend, the Iran University of Science and Technology in Tehran and the Isfahan University of Technology. Footage of the aftermath showed part of the Tehran campus completely demolished.
The IRGC gave the U.S. a deadline to avoid any retaliatory strikes, saying they “must condemn the bombing of the universities in an official statement” by 12 p.m. on Monday Iran time.
That gives the U.S. roughly eight hours to respond or face potential attacks on its satellite campuses in the region, of which there are many.
Major U.S. universities, including New York University, Northwestern, and Georgetown, maintain campuses in either Qatar or the United Arab Emirates. American University also has campuses in Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt.
Nearly all of those countries have already faced drone and missile attacks since the start of the Iran war, but university infrastructure has not yet been targeted.
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Some of those schools are already preparing for the worst.
The American University campuses in both Baghdad and Beirut have moved classes online for both Monday and Tuesday, while NYU Abu Dhabi shifted to remote learning in early March.
