The American universities in the Gulf and Lebanon have entered a phase of heightened vigilance following an explicit threat from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards against the American and Israeli institutions in the region. This alert comes after strikes attributed to the United States and Israel against Iranian academic institutions, in a context of regional war already marked by attacks of missiles, drones and reprisals in several theatres.
In Lebanon, the Lebanese American University announced that it was shutting down fully online for two days « as a precaution », while maintaining on-site essential staff and the activity of its medical centres. The university asked its community to follow official communications closely. The measure reflects a very concrete tightening of the security climate around institutions perceived as linked to the United States, even when they have long been implanted in the Lebanese academic landscape.
The American University of Beirut made a comparable decision. The university indicated that it had no evidence at this stage of a direct threat to its campuses or medical centres, but that it would still operate entirely remotely on Monday and Tuesday, with the exception of indispensable staff. The courses and exams should therefore be kept online. This choice shows that concern is based not only on a hazard identified in the very short term, but on a precautionary approach to a regional threat that has become more explicit.
The trigger: strikes on Iranian universities
The context is central to understanding this sudden rise in alert. Tehran claims that American and Israeli strikes have hit Iranian universities, and the Revolutionary Guards have used this argument to justify a threat of reprisals against American and Israeli institutions throughout the Middle East. In their message, they put an ultimatum in Washington, demanding an official condemnation of these bombings, otherwise the American universities in the region would no longer be spared.
The wording is particularly cumbersome. The Revolutionary Guards explained that students, teachers and employees should be kept away from these campuses, at least one kilometre away, indicating that they are now presenting them as potential targets. This threat is therefore not limited to State or military infrastructure. It extends the scope of risks to civilian higher education institutions, which marks a new step in the geographical and symbolic extension of the conflict.
The American establishments in the region are therefore in a particularly sensitive position. In the Gulf, several major American universities have long been established, including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The mere fact that they are now mentioned in an Iranian official threat is sufficient to change security arrangements, teaching methods and short-term arbitrations on campus openings.
The Gulf under tension, between partial return to normal and enhanced security
In the Gulf, the situation is mixed. Some countries had begun to restore a form of normalcy in schools and universities despite the continuation of the regional war. But this gradual return remained fragile. The security landscape remains unstable, with Iranian strikes already affecting several Gulf countries, frequent missile alerts and restrictions maintained in several sectors, including the United Arab Emirates, where distance education was extended at least until 3 April.
This general tension explains why the Iranian threat against American universities is not treated as a mere propagandist message. It is part of a war that has already overflowed Iran and Israel to reach Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and several Gulf monarchies. Civilian and industrial facilities have already been targeted in the region. In this context, American university campuses become, in the eyes of their managements, additional sensitive points.
The risk is all the more taken seriously as it affects institutions with high international visibility. These universities not only host local students, but also foreign teachers, accredited American programs and, in some cases, cooperation with Western governments or foundations. In a war where Iran seeks to strike symbols of American or allied presence in the region, their political exposure becomes more evident.
In Lebanon, campus decisions reflect a wider regional climate
In Lebanon, the university alert adds to an already extremely tense context. For weeks, the country has suffered Israeli strikes, overflights, attacks against relief workers, journalists and civilian areas, while the regional front has expanded further with the war against Iran. In such an environment, American universities could not treat the Iranian threat as an isolated episode. It adds to an already chronic insecurity.
The decision of LAU and d’AUB to operate remotely for two days therefore has a dual meaning. First, it responds to a specific regional threat, made publicly against American universities. But it also reflects Lebanon’s own vulnerability, a country where security balances can deteriorate very quickly and where large educational institutions have already had to adapt their activities several times since the beginning of the escalation.
The fact that the two universities nevertheless maintain their medical centres and a minimum presence of essential staff also shows the difficulty of reconciling institutional continuity and prudence. It is not a total closure, but a temporary withdrawal to reduce human exposure while maintaining the services deemed necessary.
A war that now broadens its symbolic targets
Perhaps the most striking novelty of this sequence is the nature of the places now threatened. So far, military, energy, logistics or government infrastructure dominated the calculation of retaliation. With universities, the conflict is more frontal to civilian spaces associated with American research, training and cultural presence in the region. This extension of potential targets has an immediate impact on the daily lives of thousands of students, teachers and families.
It also shows that the conflict is no longer just a war of missiles and air strikes. It is also a war of symbols, in which US-related institutions, even when deeply rooted in Lebanon or the Gulf, can be reclassified by Tehran as legitimate targets. It is this requalification that explains the rapid reaction of campuses like LAU and AUB.
In the short term, the priority of universities remains the protection of their communities and the minimum academic continuity. But the sequence opened this Sunday raises a broader question: the ability of the major international campuses in the Middle East to continue to function normally in a regional war where their only institutional identity is now sufficient to expose them.
