Iran's top university bombed as US, Israel intensify attacks; 34 killed

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Al Jazeera and Fars news agency

News US-Israel war on Iran

Iran's top university bombed as US, Israel intensify attacks; 34 killed

Tehran says it will respond 'in kind' to any attacks on its infrastructure, warns Trump threats an 'incitement to war crimes'.


Iran's Minister of Science Hossein Simaee Sarraf inspects the damage at the research building of the Shahid Beheshti University, which was damaged by a US-Israeli attack on April 4, 2026 [Majid Asgaripour/Wana via Reuters]

By Al Jazeera Staff
Published On 6 Apr 2026
6 Apr 2026

At least 34 people have been killed, including six children, as the United States and Israel carried out massive attacks across Iran, targeting a top university as well as residential areas, after US President Donald Trump set a Tuesday deadline for Tehran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants and bridges.

The Fars news agency reported on Monday that an air attack killed 23 people, including four girls and two boys aged below 10 years, in Tehran province's Baharestan County.

At least five people were killed in an attack on a residential building in the city of Qom, according to the political and security deputy of the governor, Morteza Heydari. Six others were killed in Bandar-e Lengeh, in southern Iran, authorities said.

At least a dozen cities were hit across Iran, including Bandar Abbas, Ahvaz, Mahshahr, Shiraz, Isfahan and Karaj. ... US-Israeli strikes also hit Sharif University in Tehran, one of Iran's leading scientific universities, often compared with the US's Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Al Jazeera's Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said the facility was severely hit, with extensive damage reported in the compound's mosque and laboratories.

{snip}

Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2026/4/6/irans-top-university-bombed-as-us-israel-intensify-attacks-34-killed

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10:27 a.m.:
I did not see this earlier thread of Rhiannon12866's before I posted

Overnight US-Israeli strikes hit Iranian cities as infrastructure and universities targeted - Al Jazeera English
https://www.democraticunderground.com/132170173

My bad.

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We will never be forgiven, nor should we.

Reposted by Kevin M. Kruse
https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmkruse.bsky.social

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Negin Owliaei
‪@neginowl.bsky.social‬

There are pundits in the US, the country behind the Manhattan Project, arguing that universities are fair game because science is used to make weapons.

This attack is devastating in its own right. But the fact that this place of particular pride was targeted is an extra source of insult and pain.

‪Trita Parsi‬
‪@tparsi.bsky.social‬
· 9h

Disgraceful!

The US/Israel just bombed Sharif University in Tehran. This is not only Iran's best university, but also a top 100 global university in the field of Civil Engineering.

It has also been a center of student opposition to the Iranian gov

And Trump just bombed it...



9:01 AM · Apr 6, 2026
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There are pundits in the US, the country behind the Manhattan Project, arguing that universities are fair game because science is used to make weapons.

This attack is devastating in its own right. But the fact that this place of particular pride was targeted is an extra source of insult and pain.

— Negin Owliaei (@neginowl.bsky.social) 2026-04-06T13:01:40.246Z

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Trita Parsi
‪@tparsi.bsky.social‬

Disgraceful!

The US/Israel just bombed Sharif University in Tehran. This is not only Iran's best university, but also a top 100 global university in the field of Civil Engineering.

It has also been a center of student opposition to the Iranian gov

And Trump just bombed it...



11:48 PM · Apr 5, 2026
******

Disgraceful!

The US/Israel just bombed Sharif University in Tehran. This is not only Iran's best university, but also a top 100 global university in the field of Civil Engineering.

It has also been a center of student opposition to the Iranian gov

And Trump just bombed it...

— Trita Parsi (@tparsi.bsky.social) 2026-04-06T03:48:57.687Z

******
Negin Owliaei
‪@neginowl.bsky.social‬

Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to ever win the Fields Medal, was educated at Sharif. I hope the people who have pushed for Iran's international isolation in the name of Iranian women might speak out about this but I won't hold my breath.
9:15 AM · Apr 6, 2026
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Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to ever win the Fields Medal, was educated at Sharif. I hope the people who have pushed for Iran’s international isolation in the name of Iranian women might speak out about this but I won’t hold my breath.

— Negin Owliaei (@neginowl.bsky.social) 2026-04-06T13:15:42.996Z

[ck4829]

1. Winning over hearts and minds for sure

[no_hypocrisy]

2. JFC!

1. How does bombing a university "neutralize" Iran from defending itself against our military?

2. Comparison: What if a foreign military bombed Yale, Harvard, Tulane, Stafford, etc.? Would there be any outrage?

[Igel]

9. Rather depends.

Various countries have accused that university of being in bed with the IRGC and development of weapons and involved in the nuclear program.

If it's engaged in military activity it's a military target. And in highly militarized societies, it's hard to not be top of the line in something the military would need to use and not be involved.

Plutonium production was developed in a lab at the University of Chicago. While production was scaled up at an entirely different location, would Japan have been okay to bomb that lab, even at a university? Well, since it was a specifically military project, yeah. University of Chicago made itself a target. (Albeit the "laws of war" were different at the time, so let's be a bit anachronistic about that. Note that most military research that happens at universities these days is either not weapons development or is so early in weapons development that it's multi-purposed. Rather like developing drones would be okay, and improving them, only to find out that, gee, your research is suddenly used by the military.)

That use and not official designation is what determines a military target should be obvious. A government could declare Fort Bragg to be a "peace base" engaged in 'measures pure of purpose in advancing the cause of peace and justice' and it would still be the same military camp.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. "It has also been a center of student opposition to the Iranian gov"

The BBC pointed that out in their radio report too. Trump won't do a thing in the eventual negotiations to get any of the demands of the protesters met; it'll just be a deal to keep oil flowing, with maybe some bribes for the Trump family and associates. In terms of preventing nuclear weapons production, he won't get anything better than the Obama deal he tore up, and it'll be hard for him to reach that.

[highplainsdem]

4. The US and Israeli governments are idiots.

Trump and Netanyahu in particular.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

5. Bombing education back to the stone age is not going to solve anything. In fact, this war is being fueled by ignorance.

[travelingthrulife]

6. Another day, another war crime.

[Bayard]

7. Be careful what you sow, rat bastards

I'm afraid Americans are the ones who will pay for this--with their blood.

[IronLionZion]

8. MAGA are against universities

They bomb universities in Iran and prosecute them here in the USA while cutting their funding.

Killing students keeps us safe and protects our freedoms somehow.