The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Sunday threatened to strike American and Israeli university campuses across the Middle East.
The IRGC demanded that Washington officially condemned what Tehran claimed were U.S.-Israeli strikes on two Iranian universities by Monday at noon, or else the regime would begin targeting U.S. and Israeli universities.
This comes as the war in Iran continues into its fifth week. Iran’s threat would place campuses in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and other Gulf states in danger as the regime continues to pummel its Arab neighbors with drone and missile strikes.
The Fars news agency broadcasted the regime’s message. “If the US government wants its universities in the region to be free from retaliation… it must condemn the bombing of universities in an official statement by 12 noon on Monday, March 30, Tehran time,” The Straits Times reported.
Airstrikes that occurred between Friday and Saturday struck Iran University of Science and Technology in Tehran. The strikes damaged buildings, but there were no casualties.
The IRGC also warned anyone near U.S.-affiliated campuses in the Middle East to evacuate. “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 read.
NEW: 🚨🇮🇷 Iran's regime issued a threat early Sunday morning against all American universities in the Middle East.
— Wolf Brief (@wolfbrief_) March 29, 2026
This is in retaliation for Israel, hitting their universities.
Question: If Israel takes out Speaker Ghalibaf and FM Araghchi, who is the other top figure in… https://t.co/Ca7XnjB8Kj pic.twitter.com/WEWQBHakP2
Several prominent American universities have branches in the Gulf. This includes Texas A&M University in Qatar and New York University in the UAE.
Georgetown University in Qatar already shifted to remote instructions on Thursday, before the IRGC made the threat.
🚨‼️ BREAKING 💥
— GBX News (@GBX_Extra) March 29, 2026
The IRGC: We are targeting American universities in Gulf Arab countries. pic.twitter.com/XyTVrjl4N8
Iran has continued to strike U.S. military positions in the Gulf. Iranian missiles and drones slammed Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, wounding at least 15 U.S. service members, the Times of Israel reported.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said in a statement, “The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation and dialogue while secretly planning a ground attack” and that the regime is “waiting for the arrival of the American soldiers on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional allies once and for all.”