Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has declared American and Israeli-affiliated university campuses across the Middle East legitimate military targets, issuing a deadline of noon on Monday, March 30, Tehran time, for Washington to formally condemn strikes on Iranian academic institutions or face retaliation.
The threat, announced on Sunday, March 29, 2026, marks one of the most direct warnings against civilian educational infrastructure since the US-Israeli war on Iran entered its fifth week.
“If the US government wants its universities in the region to be free from retaliation, it must condemn the bombing of the universities in an official statement by 12 noon on Monday, March 30, Tehran time,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iranian state media. The Guard also urged everyone in the vicinity of targeted campuses to act immediately. Staff, students, and residents near American and Israeli university campuses in the region were told to stay at least one kilometre away.
The IRGC cited the alleged destruction of the Iran University of Science and Technology in Tehran, struck overnight between Friday and Saturday, as the trigger for the ultimatum. The statement warned that all Israeli and American universities in the West Asia region would be considered legitimate targets until two universities were struck in retaliation for destroyed Iranian campuses.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei also cited the Isfahan University of Technology as a second institution targeted, accusing Washington and Tel Aviv of attempting to cripple Iran’s scientific foundation by systematically targeting universities and research centres. Israel’s military, however, said it targeted Malek Ashtar University and Imam Hossein University on the grounds that the IRGC was using those sites for military purposes, including space research and weapons development.
The threat drew swift responses from institutions across the region. The American University of Beirut shifted to fully remote operations, with President Fadlo Khouri acknowledging in a statement that the campus community had woken to alarming news, though he stressed there was no evidence of a direct threat against the university specifically. “Out of an abundance of caution, we will operate fully online on Monday and Tuesday, with the exception of essential personnel,” Khouri said. The Lebanese American University in Beirut announced the same precautionary measure.
Georgetown University in Qatar had already moved to remote learning on Thursday, before the IRGC issued Sunday’s threat. Several other prominent American institutions maintain campuses across the Gulf, including Texas A&M University in Qatar and New York University in the United Arab Emirates.
IRGC-affiliated media later circulated a graphic explicitly naming institutions considered targets, including the American Universities of Sulaimani and Baghdad in Iraq, alongside a renewed evacuation warning.
The ultimatum comes against a backdrop of widening regional hostilities. Yemen’s Houthi rebels officially entered the conflict on Saturday, launching what they described as a first military operation consisting of ballistic missiles and drones aimed at southern Israel, declaring operations would continue until aggression against Iran, Lebanon, and Iraq ceased.
Diplomatic efforts are running in parallel, with Pakistan expected to host foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt for de-escalation discussions. US envoy Steve Witkoff suggested that direct US-Iran talks in Pakistan could take place within the week.
No response from Washington to the IRGC’s ultimatum had been issued as of the time of publication.
