Tel Aviv, March 29 — The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday it carried out a “wide-scale wave of strikes” on Iranian military infrastructure in central Tehran. In a post on X, the IDF said the operation hit multiple sites it linked to the “Iranian terror regime,” including dozens of weapons storage and production facilities. The statement said several temporary command centres were dismantled, including locations where commanders were reportedly operating, and that facilities for ballistic missile production and storage, air-defence systems and observation posts were also struck.
Earlier the same day, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that American and Israeli universities in the West Asian region could be considered legitimate targets in retaliation for what Tehran described as US and Israeli strikes on Iranian academic institutions and cultural heritage sites. The IRGC’s message, broadcast by state media Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) on Telegram, condemned recent attacks on Iranian universities and specifically referenced a reported bombardment of the University of Science and Technology in Tehran. The statement said that, unless certain conditions are met, all universities affiliated with the United States and Israel in the region would be regarded as legitimate targets.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei also posted on X, accusing the United States and Israel of deliberately targeting Iranian academic and scientific infrastructure amid the broader regional conflict. He alleged a campaign of strikes on universities, research centres, historical monuments and prominent scientists intended to “cripple our country’s scientific foundation and cultural heritage,” naming Isfahan University of Technology and the University of Science and Technology in Tehran as among those hit in the past 30 days. Baqaei dismissed claims by the US and Israel that the strikes were about countering Iran’s nuclear programme or an “imminent threat,” calling such explanations pretexts for undermining Iran’s intellectual and cultural institutions.
(Reporting based on ANI.)
