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U.S.-Israeli airstrikes have severely damaged over 30 Iranian universities and science research centers, 55 libraries and at least 56 heritage sites. The bombing raids have destroyed years of scientific research and equipment, and generations of manuscripts. Here are a few examples:
Iran’s science minister Hossein Simaee Sarraf inspects the damage at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran amid the US-Israeli war on Iran. April 4, 2026. Photo Credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA
Individual faculty members have also been targeted by missile strikes. Dr. Saeed Shamghadri and his family were killed on March 22. He was an associate professor in the electrical engineering department at IUT.
The attacks follow decades of U.S. economic sanctions on Iranian academics that have isolated them from the international science community. Travel restrictions on Iran’s scientists and students have prevented them from attending, contributing to and benefitting from international conferences. The sanctions have caused some editors to reject papers from Iranian medical researchers.
Asma Abdi, a Ph.D. researcher at the University of Exeter, told the Middle East Eye, “Whatever technological capabilities could not be disabled and curtailed through sanctions are now being completely annihilated through bombardment.” (Middle East Eye, April 12)
Iran’s minister of culture, Reza Salehi Amiri, and Iranian officials have said the U.S.-Israel war on Iran is a deliberate and conscious attack on Iranian identity.
The aerial strikes heavily targeted the university’s artificial intelligence center, which holds critical databases. Over the last two years, the center has been developing knowledge platforms and training Persian language AI models for universities across Iran.
A university staff member told Middle East Eye that the center had no military connection and that the U.S.-Israeli goal is to push Iran backwards scientifically. (Middle East Eye, April 12)
Even those Iranian academics and students who have been critical of the Iranian government say bombing universities is an attempt to erase Iranian sovereignty and technological autonomy.
Universities have protected status under international law. Over 1,400 international scholars have signed a statement to the United Nations condemning the bombing of civilian academic, health and research infrastructure. They said science depends on openness, safety and collaboration — none of which survive in war.
After the bloody Toboso 19 massacre on April 19 in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental, the New People's Army (NPA)-Northern Negros (Roselyn Jean Pelle Command) declared its readiness and determination to continue the people's war in order to achieve justice for the massacred. Ten of those killed were Red fighters of the unit while nine were unarmed individuals.
Among the martyrs were NPA-Northern Negros commander Roger Fabillar (Ka Tapang) and the unit's political instructor Maria Clarita Branzuel Blanco (Ka Sanim/Pat). Also killed were Rene Villarin Sr (Ka During), squad leader; Genevieve Balora (Ka Raia), Party cadre in the district; Pedro Bonghanoy (Ka Regen), medical officer; Sonny Boy Caramihan (Ka Nikki); Arnel Javoc (Ka JR); Joros Caramihan (Ka Bunso); Labskie Purisimia Enustacion (Ka Judy); and Jocel Gimang (Ka John Paul).
According to Ka Cecil Estrella, spokesperson of the NPA-Northern Negros, the martyrs played a great role. He said that as Red fighters of the people's army, they directly participated in the production of farmers, held discussions on the rights of the exploited, and provided social services to the Negrosanon people.
As the main instrument of the Communist Party of the Philippines Committee in Northern Negros for advancing the people's war, the NPA unit helped expand and strengthen the mass base and Party branches. According to the committee's report in December 2025, Party membership expanded by 30% that year and new branches were established in large areas. Membership in underground mass organizations also grew by almost 50% while the number of those affiliated with the revolutionary movement tripled.
The NPA-Northern Negros also doubled the size of its area of operation and launched no fewer than 19 offensives and counter-offensive guerrilla actions. These operations were carried out up to towns near the provincial capital and populated areas.
“We salute each and every Red fighter who bravely practiced the class-based and invincible spirit of the New People's Army!” Estrella said. He added that the remaining Red fighters will continue to mobilize and strengthen to achieve justice for all victims.
According to Estrella, the martyrs' death is as heavy as Mount Kanlaon and their legacy continues to live on in every tear, sweat, and blood flowing through the masses. "They are the seeds, water, and sunlight that further nourished the harvest of the revolution's victories on the island of Negros and the entire country," he said.
“As the global crisis worsens, the people are increasingly being pushed into a condition where their only option is to resort to revolutionary violence to defend themselves and others,” Estrella said. This is also the reason why since the NPA was founded in Tarlac in 1969, taking root and expanding throughout the country to Negros Island, it has remained and is able to persevere.
"For fifty-seven years, reactionary forces have been trying to eliminate armed resistance but have been unable to root it out. The fascist soldiers and their bosses will never realize that as long as there are still masses mired in poverty, the people's war will surely advance," Estrella added
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ShareIsraeli soldiers were wounded in Hezbollah drone attacks as the resistance announced the destruction of an advanced air defense system.
The Israeli occupation army announced that two soldiers were injured, one of them seriously, after a booby-trapped drone directly struck Israeli forces near Ras al-Naqoura along the border with Israel.
Israeli media reported that large military reinforcements were dispatched to the area following the explosion.
In a separate incident in southern Lebanon, another Israeli soldier was reportedly wounded after explosive-laden drones targeted Israeli occupation forces operating in the area.
According to Israeli Channel 15, Hezbollah once again succeeded in carrying out a drone strike inside Israeli-controlled territory, injuring occupation soldiers.
The Israeli military spokesperson also acknowledged that Hezbollah launched rockets and mortar shells toward Israeli forces in southern Lebanon during recent hours.
Hezbollah destroyed a newly developed Iron Dome air defense system at the Jal al-Alam site in the western sector of southern Lebanon.
According to Al Mayadeen’s correspondent, the drone strike marked the first destruction of this type of upgraded Iron Dome system since the beginning of the war.
The correspondent described the operation itself as a “qualitative achievement,” noting that the drone successfully bypassed Israeli defense, monitoring, and tracking systems before striking the target.
The system reportedly included around 20 interceptor missiles designed specifically to counter drones and aerial threats.
Al Mayadeen also reported that resistance fighters destroyed what was described as a fourth-generation Israeli tank during operations in al-Bayada.
The tank, referred to in the report as the ‘King’s Tank’, was described as one of the occupation army’s most advanced armored vehicles, equipped with upgraded protection, surveillance, and detection systems.
According to the correspondent, the resistance used a new advanced projectile during the attack, with footage reportedly showing the tank burning after being struck.
The latest operations come amid increasing Israeli concern over Hezbollah’s expanding drone capabilities, particularly fiber-optic-guided explosive drones that Israeli media and military analysts have described as difficult to intercept through conventional electronic warfare systems.
Recent Israeli military assessments and media reports have warned that Hezbollah’s evolving drone warfare tactics pose a growing challenge not only along the Lebanese front but potentially deeper inside Israeli-controlled territory.
(PC, Al Mayadeen
