American University of Armenia shuts campus after Iran threat

The American University of Armenia has switched to online learning amid a threat of attacks issued by Iran, the university said in a statement on Monday.

“We emphasize that we have received no direct threats against our university, and no indication that we are in any kind of danger, so there is no cause for alarm,” the statement said, adding the measure is “due to the threat made by Iran to target American universities in West Asia and the Middle East.”

The threat was published on Sunday by Fars News Agency, which is closely associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“If the US government wants its universities in the region to be free from retaliation... it must condemn the bombing of the universities in an official statement by noon on Monday, March 30, Tehran time,” the statement said.

It added: “We advise all staff, professors and students of American universities in the region and residents in the surrounding areas to stay outside the 1km radius from the aforementioned universities.”

The statement referred to the strikes overnight on Friday to Saturday on Tehran, including the Iran University of Science and Technology in the northeast of the capital. That strike reportedly caused no casualties.

As of the time of publication, the closure applies to Monday only, the university told CivilNet. This marks the first time an institution in Armenia closed or issued preventive measures due to a threat of Iranian strikes.

Since the start of the U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran late last month, Iranian drones and missiles have hit Armenia’s neighbors Turkey and Azerbaijan, but Armenia itself has so far not seen any threats.

The AUA campus is located on Baghramyan Avenue in central Yerevan, just several hundred feet away from the presidential residence and the country’s parliament building.