Condemning US-Israeli Attacks on Iranian Universities and Academicians
Addressed to: The Global Academic Community
We, the undersigned Iranian universities of technology, issue this statement to alert our colleagues worldwide about the systematic attacks by the United States and the Israeli regime against Iranian universities and academic personnel.
Direct military strikes have targeted Iranian universities in March 2026, including:
- Shiraz University (Faculty of Pharmacy)
- Isfahan University of Technology
- Urmia University (Science and Technology Campus and Veterinary Teaching Hospital)
- Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST)
These attacks reveal a pattern of aggression against the sanctity of higher education in Iran.
Just days before the airstrike on IUST, Professor Saeed Shamghadri, a distinguished faculty member of IUST, along with his son and daughter, were assassinated in a strike on their home. The killing of a professor and his children, followed by the bombing of his university, exposes the true nature of these acts: a systematic assault on science, education, and innocent life.
The assassination of scientists has continued. We receive daily reports of martyred academicians—students and professors—from universities across the country. These actions violate international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention (Additional Protocol I), and the Safe Schools Declaration (2015). Universities are sanctuaries of intellectual freedom. Targeting them attacks the very foundation of progress and undermines the future of entire generations. As managers of scientific institutions in Iran, we draw the attention of our global colleagues to these crimes. If these crimes are not condemned today, they will await academic environments in other countries tomorrow.
We urgently call upon all universities and academic associations worldwide to:
- Condemn attacks on Iranian universities as war crimes.
- Recognize the deliberate targeting of academic personnel and educational facilities.
- Stand in solidarity with the Iranian academic community.
- Demand accountability from the perpetrators and their commanders.
Let us reaffirm our shared commitment to stability, education, and the protection of intellectual institutions worldwide. Silence in the face of these atrocities will only encourage more war crimes against science, education, and humanity.
Issued by:
Five Top Iranian Universities of Technology (UT5):
- Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT)
- Isfahan University of Technology (IUT)
- Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST)
- K. N. Toosi University of Technology (KNTU)
- Sharif University of Technology
March 2026