TEHRAN - The United States and Israel have continued to bomb Iranian civilian infrastructure and residential areas in the sixth week of their joint aggression against Iran.

By Monday, approximately three dozen people, including several children, had been killed in strikes carried out over the past 24 hours.

In the capital, a US-Israeli airstrike targeting the Baharestan district claimed the lives of at least 15 people and wounded many others. Four residential units were destroyed, and more than 40 other homes and vehicles were significantly damaged. Cities such as Karaj, Shiraz, Isfahan, Bushehr, Bandar-e Lengeh, and Qom were also hit by deadly strikes. 

Sharif University targeted

One of the most notable attacks was carried out early Monday against Sharif University of Technology, causing unprecedented damage to buildings around the campus.

The strike on Sharif University in Tehran has drawn fierce condemnation.

Iran’s first vice president said that attacking the university with a “bunker-buster” bomb was a symbol of “Trump’s madness and ignorance.” Mohammad Reza Aref wrote on X: “He [Trump] does not understand that Iran’s knowledge is not embedded in concrete to be destroyed by bombs; the true fortress is the will of our professors and elites. No barbarity in history has ever been able to strip science from the Iranian people. Science is rooted in our souls, and this fortress will not crumble.”

Iran’s foreign minister also weighed in on X, calling Sharif University “the MIT of Iran” and condemning the bombing. Abbas Araghchi, added: “Israeli-U.S. aggressors have bombed the MIT of Iran. Aggressors will see our might.”

Araghchi further cited Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), stating, “Even if knowledge were situated in the distant Pleiades, Iranians would be capable of attaining it.” The Pleiades is a well-known star cluster in the constellation Taurus, often used in Persian and Islamic literary traditions to symbolize something distant or lofty, emphasizing Iran’s commitment to pursuing knowledge regardless of obstacles.

US Congresswoman: Sharif is Iran’s MIT

Democratic Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, who is of Iranian descent, also condemned the bombing of Sharif University.

“Sharif University is Iran’s MIT. They’ve produced a huge number of engineers who’ve gone on to Silicon Valley and founded some of the most successful American tech companies,” Ansari wrote on X.
“Why are we bombing a university in a city of 10 million people?”

Sharif University has often been compared to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States for its role in advancing scientific research in Iran. Several professors affiliated with the university have previously been killed following what Iranian officials described as baseless accusations of links to Iran’s nuclear program.

Sharif University of Technology is not the first university to be hit by the US-Israeli coalition since February 28. Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University and Iran University of Science and Technology, the Faculty of Pharmacy at Shiraz University, Isfahan University of Technology, parts of the Science and Technology Campus, and the Veterinary Specialized Hospital Campus at Urmia University have also been struck the unlawful aggression of the US and Israel. 

Since February 28, more than 2,000 people have been killed in US and Israeli strikes.