Iran to Preserve Bombed University Site as Museum After US-Israeli Strikes

Tehran— Iran plans to preserve part of a university campus damaged in U.S.-Israeli strikes as a war museum documenting what officials described as attacks on the country’s scientific institutions, as Tehran continues to assess the destruction caused during the conflict that began earlier this year.

Authorities said the damaged site at Isfahan University of Technology, one of Iran’s largest higher education institutions, would be converted into a permanent museum following strikes in March that hit the campus during the broader U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran.

“The current damaged site will be preserved as a war museum at the university to remain a document of the country’s scientific oppression in history,” Zafarollah Kalantari, head of the university, said on Saturday, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Kalantari said separate land had been allocated for the construction of a new academic building and the installation of advanced replacement equipment to restore the university’s research and teaching capacity.

Initial assessments estimated damage to the university’s buildings and facilities at around $11 million, he added.The university, located in the central city of Isfahan, was among dozens of educational institutions affected by the strikes launched during the war that began in late February and expanded across multiple fronts in the region.

Iranian officials have said more than 30 universities across the country were hit during the conflict, including campuses in Tehran, alongside residential neighborhoods and other civilian infrastructure.

The strikes formed part of a broader campaign by the United States and Israel targeting what Washington and Tel Aviv described as strategic military and nuclear-linked infrastructure, though Iranian authorities have repeatedly said civilian and academic institutions were also heavily affected.

The conflict triggered significant regional instability before a ceasefire took effect on April 8, temporarily halting direct hostilities but leaving diplomatic tensions and reconstruction challenges unresolved.

Iran has increasingly framed the damage to universities and research facilities as evidence of what it calls international attempts to suppress its scientific and technological development, using such sites as symbols of national resilience and resistance.

The decision to preserve the damaged section of Isfahan University reflects that broader political message, turning the remains of the strike into both a memorial and a state narrative of wartime loss.