The universities

The IRGC threatened to strike campuses of American universities in the Persian Gulf after the US and Israel bombed Iranian universities. It issued an ultimatum to the US government: publicly condemn the attacks on Iranian universities and research centres by March 30, or face strikes on "more than two institutions." Texas A&M and Northwestern have campuses in Qatar. NYU has one in the UAE.

The threat is an extension of the symmetrical retaliation logic Iran has applied since day one. Israel hits Iranian energy infrastructure, Iran hits its neighbours'. Israel bombs universities, Iran threatens the adversary's universities. Each escalation generates a mirror response. The problem is that campuses in Qatar and the UAE are not military targets under any definition. They are civilian institutions with students, faculty and staff from dozens of nationalities.

Press TV listed the targets the IRGC struck over the weekend, including an electronic warfare and radar centre operated by Israeli firm Elta in Haifa and a fuel depot at Ben Gurion airport. The escalation in target types is a clear trend. Each week crosses a line that the previous week seemed uncrossable. Universities, chemical plants, power plants, cultural heritage, water infrastructure. The war consumes the categories of protection one by one.