Strikes on Iranian universities raise war crime questions, fears of retaliation

The same universities where students were protesting the Iranian regime weeks ago have shown up as rubble in news footage of the war.

Almost two dozen universities in the country have sustained damage, with questions arising as to whether the attacks on academic institutions constitute a war crime.

Iran is threatening to retaliate against U.S.-affiliated schools in the region, causing multiple institutions to go remote.

Iran’s Ministry of Science said at least 21 universities have been damaged by strikes in the monthlong war with the U.S. and Israel, CNN reported. The New York Times reported Israeli officials said at least one was being used for military research.

Attacks on universities can be considered a war crime under international law, with specific justifications needed for targeting what is typically considered civilian infrastructure.

“It’s a two-part test to determine whether a university or another traditionally civilian object would qualify as a military object,” said Elise Baker, senior staff lawyer with the Strategic Litigation Project at the Atlantic Council.

“The first part of the test is that the object or the location must make an effective contribution to military action through its use or other means. And then the second part is that the location’s destruction, whether total or partial destruction, must offer a definite military advantage,” Baker added.

She said each strike against Iranian schools would have to be individually evaluated, and even if one could be a legitimate target, there are requirements around “proportionality and precaution” to avoid “civilian harm” as much as possible.

One of the Iranian universities told state media four staff members were wounded in the attacks.

“It seems unlikely that there is evidence for every single one of these cases that really show that each of these strikes are legitimate and proportional and following all of obligations under international law,” Baker said.

Iran has threatened attacks on U.S.-affiliated schools in surrounding countries, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announcing that “all universities of the occupying regime and American universities in the West Asia region are legitimate targets for us until two universities are struck in retaliation for the Iranian universities that have been destroyed.”

The statement advised civilians in the region to stay 1 kilometer away from these institutions.

There are many U.S. colleges, including New York University and Georgetown University, that have satellite campuses in nearby countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

“The United States Military is and was prepared to curtail any attacks by Iran, as evidenced by the 90 percent drop in ballistic missile and drone attacks by the terrorist regime,” a White House official said when asked about the attacks on universities.

Multiple schools in the region reportedly switched to online learning when the war began, and more are now joining after Tehran’s threats.

“At this time, we have no evidence of direct threats against our university, its campuses or medical centers. At the same time, out of an abundance of caution, we will operate fully online on Monday and Tuesday, with the exception of essential personnel. Accordingly, there will be no instructional activities or exams on campus during these two days,” the president of the American University in Beirut said in a statement.

Any attacks on American universities by Iran with the sole purpose of retaliation would also not hold up under international law, Baker said.

Universities are not the only civilian areas that have become targets in the war, with Iran threatening the tech industry in recent days, as well as the abundant disruptions in the energy sector.

Addressing the nation on the conflict Wednesday evening, President Trump said the U.S. would “very shortly” wrap up its mission objectives, but added, “We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks; we’re going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong.”

As the fighting rages on and accusations of war crimes hit both sides, it can be difficult to take action against countries even if a violation occurs.

“There is an enforcement problem with international law, especially with actors like the U.S. and Israel that are very powerful states. And there’s a lot of challenges in terms of holding actors accountable for international crimes, especially powerful actors. But, in theory, if any of these attacks were war crimes, there should be prosecutions for war crimes that could happen in U.S. or Israeli courts,” Baker said.

“If the U.S. or Israeli forces were to have committed war crimes and those states failed to take action to investigate or hold their military actors accountable, then third states or potentially international courts would have the obligation and potentially jurisdiction to try to engage in that accountability practice,” she added. “That’s where it becomes more difficult, but under the principle of universal jurisdiction, if any soldier or commander who is responsible for a war crime and travels to, for example, Germany — Germany could arrest and prosecute that individual for war crimes.”

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