US embassy in Beirut warns that Iran, terror groups may target Lebanese universities |
The US embassy in Lebanon warned on Friday that Iran and allied terrorist groups could seek to target universities in the country.
“Iran and its aligned terrorist militias may intend to target universities in Lebanon,” said a security alert, without identifying any specific institutions. The Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group is the most prominent militia in the country.
The embassy repeated a warning for US citizens to leave the country.
The statement came days after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to target US universities in the Middle East after saying US-Israeli strikes had destroyed two Iranian universities.
“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,” said the statement published by Iranian media.
“We advise all employees, professors, and students of American universities in the region and residents of their surrounding areas” to stay a kilometer away from campuses, the statement added.
Iran’s warning came after several universities in the country were targeted by US-Israeli strikes, most recently Tehran’s Imam Hossein University, which Israel said housed “one of the IRGC’s central military infrastructure sites,” including underground wind tunnels used for ballistic missile testing, a chemistry center said to be involved in chemical weapons research, and a central engineering complex tied to weapons development.
Israel also struck Malek Ashtar University in Tehran, which it said was used by Iran’s military industries to develop components for nuclear weapons.
Among other universities, Lebanon is home to the American University of Beirut, one of the most prominent US institutions in the region, whose campus and hospital are in the heart of the capital.
Taking security precautions, the university moved classes online on Monday and Tuesday, though they have since returned to in-person learning.
Several US universities also have campuses scattered throughout the Middle East, such as Texas A&M University in Qatar and New York University in the United Arab Emirates.
In Jordan, the American University of Madaba, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) southwest of the capital Amman, also said it was holding online classes until Thursday for its 3,000 students.
The American University of Armenia also said it was moving all classes online over Iran’s threats. The school said it had received no direct threats and stressed there was no cause for alarm, calling the move “a precautionary measure.”
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American University of Beirut
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC