On March 28, 2026, the campus of Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST – علم و صنعت) in Tehran was bombed during military operations involving the United States and Israel.
At the same time, the Iranian regime has targeted academic institutions, including a June 2025 missile strike on the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, and has issued threats against U.S.-affiliated university campuses in the Persian Gulf.
Universities are now being pulled into the line of fire. FISN condemns these actions in the strongest possible terms.
Targeting a university is an attack on its entire community. It endangers students, faculty, and staff. It destroys spaces dedicated to learning, research, and the exchange of ideas. No political or military justification can legitimize such acts.
This principle applies without exception. We condemn attacks on academic institutions wherever they occur and by whomever they are carried out.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2601 affirms the protection of education in armed conflict and prohibits attacks on educational facilities. Violating this principle is both unlawful and indefensible.
The threats against U.S.-affiliated campuses in the Persian Gulf represent a dangerous escalation. Any such attack would directly target academic communities and further erode international norms.
FISN calls for the immediate protection of universities and all members of their communities.
Universities must not become battlefields.
FISN stands with the Iranian people, and with freedom-loving students, faculty, and staff in particular, in their struggle for a democratic and secular republic. We support a future in which academic institutions are protected, independent, and open to all.
Education must never be a target.