Students at American universities in the Iraqi Kurdistan region are worried about threats of Iranian strikes and fear getting caught up in the US-Israeli war on Iran .
Tensions increased after Israel recently struck two Iranian universities, including the University of Science and Technology in Tehran. In response, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) promised to retaliate and warned that US and Israeli-linked universities across West Asia could be targeted.
The IRGC declared that US and Israeli universities would be considered "legitimate targets," prompting heightened concern at institutions such as the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani ( AUIS ), where students now experience increased uncertainty.
The IRGC said these universities would remain potential targets until Iran carried out retaliatory strikes for damage to its own campuses. The group also told people nearby to stay at least one kilometre away.
Babo Bahman, a Kurdish student studying politics and international relations at AUIS, speaking to The New Arab , described the mood on campus: "When I first heard our university could be a target, I was shocked, but not entirely surprised. Both Iran and Israel have recently targeted civilian institutions. Given AUIS's civic ties to the US and its name, it could be seen as a target, especially if the conflict escalates and decisions are made for appearances rather than strategy."
"A university is a civilian institution, not a military target. If our university were attacked, it could severely disrupt our studies and delay graduations. This kind of rhetoric is dangerous. It goes beyond military logic and targets civilian institutions that play no part in this conflict," he added.
These threats are not just theoretical. Halkawt Chalabi, communications director at AUIS, said, "Claims of our university being targeted by drones are false. While these threats are unrelated to us, they have affected our teaching methods and staff security."
He also said AUIS moved to online learning on the first day to keep classes going.
Other students share these concerns.
Shad Sarwar, a law student at AUIS, reported that the university has faced threats since Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023.
"Following 7 October, some Arab students held a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinians, raising the Palestinian flag. Posting the event online led to threats from militias within Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces. As a result, we have been targeted by these groups ever since," Sarwar said.
Regional authorities have urged calm and stated that they are monitoring the situation in coordination with university officials and international partners. When the conflict escalated in late February, the university transitioned to online learning. Nevertheless, students remain concerned about their safety, and many families maintain close contact with their sons and daughters.
The threat to higher education in Kurdistan comes at a time when universities already face challenges, including high graduate unemployment and limited resources. For many, the idea of violence and conflict on campus is deeply troubling. It puts both academic progress and the region's future at risk.
The American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS), founded in 2006 by Barham Salih, Iraq's former president, is Iraq's first non-profit, US-style university. It also hosts The Sulaimani Forum, a major annual conference that brings together US and Iranian officials.
Iraq hosts two principal American universities in Sulaymaniyah and Baghdad, both of which offer liberal arts education. The American University of Kurdistan (AUK) in Duhok adopts a similar educational model.
"I was deeply worried when I read that the IRGC threatened to target American universities, including AUIS," Sarwar said. "If AUIS is attacked, our academic progress will be disrupted, and there may be casualties. Even if the conflict ends, the threat of a sudden drone strike by Iran or its proxies remains. They could claim CIA involvement at the university, especially since former CIA director David Petraeus recently opened an AI centre here. The psychological pressure is constant."
He said that targeting universities constitutes a war crime under international law and argued that the liberal international order has significantly eroded.
"Attacks on civilian sites were once considered taboo, but there is now far less respect for human rights and international norms. It is deeply concerning to witness this decline. Under US President Donald Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this liberal order has effectively collapsed. There is little regard for international law or human rights," remarked Sarwar.
Many students and their families remain concerned about safety and the continuity of their studies as the war goes on with no end in sight.