Iran Threatens Retaliation After Israeli Airstrikes on Universities

Iran sent a clear signal that it remains open to doing business with the world, provided the United States abandons coercion, stated Asif Durrani, former Pakistani ambassador to Iran. An advisor from the UAE, Anwar Gargash, called for any agreement to end the war to include "clear guarantees" that Iranian attacks on neighbors will not be repeated. Gargash asserted that the Iranian government has become "the main threat" to the security of the Persian Gulf and demanded compensation for attacks on civilian infrastructure. Tehran threatens retaliation against universities in Israel and the US. Iran warned on Sunday of further escalation after Israeli airstrikes hit several universities, some of which Israel claimed were used for nuclear research and development. A high-ranking Iranian official warned on Sunday that Iran is ready to "set fire to American troops" if there is a ground invasion, as key diplomats from regional powers met in Pakistan hoping to open direct talks and end the war. The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, declared that Iranian forces were "waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set fire to them and punish their regional partners forever," according to Iranian state media. He also dismissed the talks in Pakistan as a cover after 2,500 US Marines trained in amphibious landings arrived in the Middle East. The war has threatened global supplies of oil, natural gas, and fertilizers and disrupted air travel. Iran's control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz has shaken markets and prices, and now Iran's entry into the war via its Houthi allies could threaten maritime transport in another crucial waterway, the Bab el-Mandeb strait to the Red Sea. "We don't know when our homes might be attacked," said 71-year-old Razzak Saghir al-Mousawi, describing relentless airstrikes as Iranians crossed into Iraq, urging the US to end the war. Still, Press TV, the English arm of Iran's state television, reported last week that Tehran had drafted its own five-point proposal that called for stopping the killings of Iranian officials, guarantees against future attacks, reparations, and "exercising sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz." However, during the talks, Iran has eased some restrictions on commercial vessels passing through the strait, agreeing late on Saturday to allow another 20 Pakistani-flagged ships to transit the passage. The war also continues on the digital front. Who met in Pakistan? Pakistan reported that the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt met in Islamabad without participation from the US or Israel, days after the US government offered Iran a 15-point "list of actions" as a framework for a possible peace agreement. The ministers are scheduled to meet again on Monday, March 30. Egyptian Badr Abdelatty noted that the meetings sought to open a "direct dialogue" between the US and Iran, which during the war have largely communicated through mediators. Both this war and last year's 12-day war began during rounds of indirect talks. However, Iranian officials have rejected the US framework and publicly dismissed the idea of negotiating under pressure. "I'm definitely scared." More than 3,000 people have died in the war that began with US and Israeli attacks on Iran, which triggered Iran's attacks on Israel and neighboring Persian Gulf Arab states. Concerns over Iran's nuclear program are at the center of the tensions. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a paramilitary force, warned in a statement that Iran would consider Israeli universities and branches of American universities in the region as "legitimate targets" if no security guarantees are provided for Iranian universities, state media reported. American universities, including Georgetown, New York University, and Northwestern, have campuses in Qatar and the UAE. "If the US government wants its universities in the region to be exempt, it must condemn the bombing" of Iranian universities by noon on Monday, the Guard stated in a statement. The spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, stated on Saturday that dozens of universities and research centers have been hit, including Iran University of Science and Technology and Isfahan University of Technology. Both sides in the war have threatened to attack civilian facilities, which critics say could be a war crime.