Science ministry pursuing legal actions against USIsraeli attacks on educational centers

Science ministry pursuing legal actions against US-Israeli attacks on educational centers

TEHRAN – The head of the Organization of Student Affairs has stated that the science ministry is following up on the legal actions against the US-Israeli assaults on educational centers and the martyrdom of 175 university students.

Elaborating on legal dimensions of the recent attacks on universities, dormitories, schools, and scientific centers as examples of violations of international humanitarian law, Saeed Habiba said a group of official judicial experts has been formed, as ordered by the science minister, to assess the amount of damage accurately, IRNA reported.

These measures have led to a statement made by UNESCO explicitly condemning attacks on Iranian educational centers. Currently, legal cases are being pursued in domestic courts and international forums, the official noted.

Referring to the 175 students killed in recent illegal attacks, Habiba said a ceremony will be held to commemorate the martyred students, and graduation certificates will be issued to honor them.

Over 30 Iranian universities had been directly attacked by the United States and Israel since the war began in late February, according to Minister of Science, Research and Technology Hossein Simaei-Sarraf.

Five university professors and more than 60 students had been killed in the strikes, added Simaei-Sarraf, describing attacks on Iranian infrastructure as “crimes against humanity.”

“The main reason the enemy targeted this sensitive infrastructure was that they did not want us to gain access to this technology,” he said, adding that many Iranians abroad have contacted the university, offering to help fund its restoration.

On April 7, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations accused the United States and Israel of committing “unprecedented barbarism” by deliberately targeting Iranian universities and scientific institutions, calling the strikes war crimes that no amount of threats or military pressure can extinguish.

In a series of letters to the UN secretary-general and the Security Council this week, Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani detailed a systematic campaign of state terrorism.

He cited an airstrike early on April 6 that severely damaged Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, including its faculties of civil engineering and electrical engineering, as well as research institutes for nanotechnology and environmental studies. That attack followed a similar strike on April 3 that hit Shahid Beheshti University, damaging its Laser and Plasma Research Institute.

“The intentional targeting of scientific institutions and universities constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law and amounts to a war crime,” Iravani wrote.

The Iranian government’s spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani, speaking at a news conference at Shahid Beheshti University, echoed that defiance.

“The enemies cannot extinguish the lamp of Iranian science,” the spokeswoman said, adding that recent attacks were meant to undermine the achievements of the 47-year-old revolution and sever the bond between the nation and its homeland.

“These miscalculations are wrong. Iran is the common denominator of all Iranians. Those who have a homeland will stand behind their country, and Iranians living abroad will never give in.”

Targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure on such a scale can, according to credible legal sources, constitute clear violations of international humanitarian law. Under the Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law, civilian locations, including schools and universities, are generally protected from attacks.

The strike on the Pasteur Institute of Tehran, a research and public health center with over a century of history and a member of the international Pasteur network is a prime example of targeting scientific institutions as part of modern warfare. Established in the 1920s, the institute has been a regional pioneer in vaccine production and has played a key role in controlling deadly diseases, particularly plague originating from wildlife in the Middle East.

Universities and research institutions are engines of knowledge and technological production. Training engineers, scientists, and specialists across disciplines lays the foundation for industrial and economic development. Destroying such centers is not just a physical attack on buildings; it is an assault on the transmission of knowledge, the training of skilled professionals, and technology production.

This type of warfare against scientific institutions shows that Iran’s adversaries understand that the country’s future strength lies not only in its military but also in its knowledge and scientific development.

Therefore, targeting universities and research institutes is a deliberate and strategic action to limit Iran’s scientific and engineering capabilities.

source: tehrantimes.com