Video: Iran condemns US-Israeli strikes on over 30 universities
Abdullateef Fowewe
Iran’s Minister of Science, Hossein Simaei, has toured the rubble-strewn campus of Shahid Beheshti University following US-Israeli airstrikes that demolished its Laser and Plasma Research Institute on Friday.
Speaking amid the destruction, Simaei accused the attackers of war crimes, claiming more than 30 Iranian universities have now been directly targeted in a wave of escalating operations.
“The place you are viewing. As you can see, we are in Shahid Beheshti University. Last week we were at another research center. Before that, at Esfahan Institute two violent attacks were happening. And as a whole, I can say that to date more than 30 of our universities have been directly attacked,” Simaei said, gesturing to the debris during a televised address.
He decried the assaults as a grave violation of global norms.
“It is unbelievable — in the 21st century, in the era of human rights, international law, and international humanitarian law — that non-governmental institutions and individuals are under attack,” the minister stated.
“The worst thing is that human rights and scientific infrastructure are being violated. You know that according to international documents, attacking the infrastructure needed by the country’s civilian citizens is a crime,” he added.
Iranian state media has framed the strikes as deliberate assaults on civilian academic facilities, though questions persist over the dual-use potential of research at sites like the Laser and Plasma Institute, which could support military applications.
