Tehran [Iran], March 29 (ANI): Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Sunday issued a stern warning that American and Israeli universities in the West Asian region could be considered legitimate targets in retaliation for the US and Israeli strikes on Iranian academic institutions and heritage infrastructure.

In a statement broadcast by Iranian state media Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) on Telegram, the IRGC condemned recent attacks on Iranian universities, including what it described as a bombardment of the University of Science and Technology in Tehran, and accused US-Israeli forces of targeting Iranian educational infrastructure.

'The American-Zionist aggressor forces have targeted Iranian universities for the umpteenth time by bombing the Tehran University of Science and Technology,' the statement read, as quoted by IRIB.

The statement warned that all universities affiliated with the United States and Israel in West Asia are 'legitimate targets' unless specific conditions are met.

The IRGC also urged staff, faculty, students and residents near American and Israeli university campuses in the region to stay at least one kilometre away to protect their safety and also demanded that the US government officially condemn the bombing of Iranian universities by noon on Monday, March 30 (Tehran time), if it wants those institutions to be spared from retaliation.

'The reckless rulers of the White House should know that all the universities of the occupying regime and American universities in the West Asian region are our legitimate targets, so the destruction of two universities in retaliation for the destroyed Iranian universities. We advise all staff, faculty, and students of American universities in the region and residents of their surrounding areas to stay within a one-kilometer radius of the aforementioned universities to protect their lives,' it added, as quoted by IRIB.

Earlier, the official spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baqaei, in a post on X, accused the United States and Israel of 'deliberately' targeting its academic institutions and scientific infrastructure amid the ongoing conflict in the region, alleging that the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran has 'revealed its true objective' by systematically striking universities, research centres, historical monuments and prominent scientists.

Baqaei described the attacks as an effort to 'cripple our country's scientific foundation and cultural heritage'.

He specifically cited Isfahan University of Technology and the University of Science and Technology in Tehran -- institutions at the heart of Iran's higher education and research ecosystem -- as among those hit during the past 30 days of conflict and also dismissed claims by the US and Israel on countering Iran's nuclear programme and addressing an 'imminent threat' as 'vicious pretexts' intended to conceal what Tehran perceives as a broader strategy to undermine its intellectual and cultural institutions.

'Isfahan University of Technology and the University of Science and Technology in Tehran are just two among many universities and research centers deliberately attacked by the aggressors during the past 30 days of their illegal war on the Iranian nation. In fact, the American-Israeli aggression against Iran continues to reveal its true objective: to cripple our country's scientific foundation and cultural heritage by systematically targeting universities, research centers, historical monuments, and prominent scientists. Countering Iran' 'nuclear program' and 'imminent threat' were nothing but vicious pretexts -- mere fabrications designed to conceal their real intention,' the post read. (ANI)