YEREVAN, ARMENIA– In a collaborated preventive action to intensifying regional tensions, the American University of Armenia (AUA) and several other prominent U.S-affiliated institutions throughout West Asia have actually suspended in-person activities.
The shift to online learning follows an explicit hazard from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which on Sunday designated American and Israeli universities in the area as “legitimate targets” for military retaliation.
The IRGC declaration cited recent US-Israeli airstrikes that apparently damaged two significant Iranian academic centres: the Iran University of Science and Innovation in Tehran and the Isfahan University of Technology.
The 12-Noon Ultimatum
The Iranian military issued a particular deadline of 12:00 PM Tehran time on Monday, March 30, 2026.
The IRGC warned that unless the United States federal government issued an official declaration condemning the battle of Iranian universities by that time, its regional satellite campuses would deal with “retaliation.”
Additionally, the IRGC encouraged all trainees, professors, and homeowners living near these campuses to stay at least one kilometre (0.6 miles) away from university premises to ensure their security.
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Universities Executing Remote Operations:
Preventive Steps Versus Direct Threats
Despite the alarming rhetoric from Tehran, the American University of Armenia emphasised that it has actually gotten no direct danger and characterised the move as a simply precautionary measure.
University President Fadlo Khuri of the American University of Beirut echoed this belief, stating that while there is no evidence of an impending strike on the Beirut campus, the choice to go remote was made out of an “abundance of care.”
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has also provided a security warning, advising U.S. citizens to stay watchful and highlighting the risk of attacks by Iran-aligned militias in Iraq and the surrounding area.
Wider Regional Dispute
The dangers against academic organizations mark a brand-new and uncomfortable escalation in the continuous dispute.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi condemned the strikes on Iranian schools, implicating the U.S. and Israel of trying to “bomb away knowledge.”
Since Monday afternoon, the U.S. State Department has not provided the main condemnation demanded by Tehran.
As a result, security experts anticipate the heightened alert level for schools in Qatar, the UAE, Iraq, and Lebanon to remain in impact throughout the week.