02 U.S. Politics

American universities move operations online

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to bomb U.S. and Israeli universities in the Middle East, calling them “legitimate targets” on Sunday.

The threat followed reported U.S.-led attacks on two Iranian universities, according to Inside Higher Ed. 

“The reckless rulers of the White House should know that from now on, all universities of the occupying regime and American universities in the West Asia region are legitimate targets for us until two universities are struck in retaliation for the Iranian universities that have been destroyed,” the IRGC stated.

“All staff, professors, and students of American universities in the region, as well as residents in their surroundings, are advised to stay at least one kilometer away from these universities to ensure their safety,” it stated.

New York University, Northwestern, and Georgetown operate branch campuses in Qatar or the United Arab Emirates, while American University maintains campuses in Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt, Washington Examiner reported.

The United Kingdom will not come to the aid of its allies the United States and Israel in Iran, no matter what pressure there is to join and no matter who asks, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The British Armed Forces will act to defend itself and British citizens in the Middle East but will never be “dragged in” to the war against Iran, Sir Keir Starmer said.

The remarks came in Starmer’s speech launching his Labour party’s local elections campaign for the forthcoming May 7th votes. While geopolitics and foreign war discourse may not seem like traditional fodder for local government elections, which in Britain tend to be fought on neighbourhood issues like refuse collection and road repairs, UK politics has taken on distinctly ethno-religious qualities that have led to claims it is developing a new sectarian politics.

For many voters in the United Kingdom, that the government doesn’t bomb Muslim countries is a primary concern at the ballot box, and several Labour Party MPs are privately concerned they stand to lose their seats to single-issue sectarian parties.

Promising his government wouldn’t engage in the joint American-Israeli attempt to reduce Iran’s capacity to hold the global economy to ransom, Sir Keir said in Wolverhampton on Monday that he wouldn’t change his mind “whatever the pressure and whoever it’s coming from”. He said:

We’re facing on a war on two fronts: the Ukraine war, now four-and-a-bit years in, and let’s salute the bravery of Ukrainians over so many years both on the frontline and the civilians as they fight for the values that matter to us.

And the other war … the Iran war, which I know is causing huge concern. People look at their screens and they’re worried when they see explosions, infrastructure blown up, the rhetoric that goes with it, worried about whether this is going to escalate even further.

And therefore it’s really important that I reiterate where I stand and where this government stands, because this is not our war and we are not going to be dragged into it.

Members of the US Armed Forces in Saudi Arabia were injured on Friday during a missile attack on Prince Sultan airbase. US officials confirmed to CBS News that about a dozen service members were injured.

The attack, reported Jennifer Jacobs, “consisted of Iranian missiles and drones.” Two Americans, she confirmed, were seriously injured while eight others suffered injuries. The total of US service members who have been killed during the conflict in Iran prior to this attack was 13.