Safeguarding Academic, Cultural, and Civilian Institutions in the Iran Conflict

We, the undersigned academics and researchers from around the world, express our profound concern over recent military strikes on Iran, the retaliatory responses, and the reported impact on civilian lives, and on educational, research, and cultural institutions in the region. We seek to highlight the risks to education and research, as well as the broader humanitarian impacts, and to urge the global academic community and institutions to raise their voices in defence of science and academic life, and to provide support to affected students, scholars, and academic collaborations.

Since 28 February 2026, reports have indicated that military strikes by the United States and Israel have caused significant civilian harm and damage to civilian infrastructure in Iran, including schools, universities, medical centres, and energy systems. We are especially alarmed by reports of attacks affecting educational institutions, including a school in Minab and multiple major universities, among them Sharif University of Technology, the Iran University of Science and Technology, Isfahan University of Technology, and Shahid Beheshti University. Health and research infrastructure has also been damaged, including the Pasteur Institute of Iran, a long-standing centre for infectious disease research and public health, as well as major pharmaceutical facilities essential for the production of cancer treatment drugs. Multiple cultural and historical sites, protected under international conventions and recognised by UNESCO, have likewise been impacted, placing irreplaceable world heritage at risk. Retaliatory actions of Iranian forces have also reportedly targeted civilian and energy infrastructure beyond Iran’s borders, while statements issued following attacks on Iranian universities — threatening US- and Israeli-affiliated campuses — have led to precautionary disruptions to academic activities in the region.

The scale of reported civilian harm, and the difficulty of independent verification amid restrictions on internet and media, raises serious concerns under international humanitarian law. Ongoing hostilities, combined with restrictions on internet access and media, further complicate independent assessment and verification.

We condemn the normalisation of violence that harms civilians and dismantles the institutions that sustain knowledge, culture, health, and human dignity, threatening long-term academic and societal progress and knowledge exchange.

We call on the global academic community and relevant institutions to:

• Publicly condemn attacks affecting academic, scientific, medical, and cultural institutions, and affirm the protection of education and research during conflict.

• Support independent, transparent investigations into attacks involving civilian harm and damage to civilian, educational, cultural, medical, and scientific infrastructure.

• Advocate for access for humanitarian organisations, independent media, and academic observers, including restoration of reliable internet connectivity to enable communication, documentation, education, and research continuity.

• Provide concrete support for affected students and scholars, including emergency funding, visiting positions, remote access to learning and research resources, flexibility in admissions and deadlines, mental health and wellbeing support, safeguarding against discrimination, support for students and researchers abroad affected by disruptions, and extensions for visas, fellowships, and grants where applicable.

We invite colleagues worldwide to add their names in support of the protection of civilians, academic and research institutions, and cultural heritage, and to call for concrete support for affected students, scholars, and research collaborations.

This letter was initiated by

Dr Sepiedeh Keshavarzi, Assistant Professor, University of Cambridge, UK

Dr Athena Akrami, Group Leader, Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, University College London, UK

Dr Mehdi Khamassi, CNRS Research Director, Sorbonne University, France

Prof Roozbeh Kiani, Professor of Neural Science and Psychology, New York University, USA

Dr Bahador Bahrami, Group Leader, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany

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