The American University of Armenia (AUA) resumed in-person classes Tuesday, March 30, a day after suspending them in response to threats from neighboring Iran to target U.S.-affiliated campuses in the region.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened such “retaliation” after US-Israeli airstrikes reportedly destroyed two Iranian universities on Friday night. He warned “all employees, faculty and students of American universities in the region as well as residents of surrounding areas” to stay one kilometer from campuses.
The AAU administration responded by deciding to hold all classes online on Monday. She said she had taken this “precautionary measure” although there was “no indication that we are in danger.”
The university, located in Yerevan and with some 2,800 undergraduate and graduate students, announced its decision to return to face-to-face teaching in a statement released late Monday.
“Earlier today, the Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports assured us that it was convinced that there was no significant or substantial risk to the university, and that in-person classes could resume as usual,” the statement said. communicated. “By decision of the AAU Emergency Operations and Crisis Management Committee, and based on this information, all classes will resume face-to-face starting tomorrow, Tuesday March 31. HAS”
The ministry has not made any public statement on the matter. AAU, affiliated with the University of California, was founded in 1991 by Armenian-American charities and philanthropists.
The Armenian government has reacted cautiously to the continuing war in the Middle East, triggered by US and Israeli strikes against Iran. He refrained from criticizing the US-Israeli military campaign while delivering an undisclosed amount of humanitarian aid to the Islamic Republic. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi thanked Yerevan for its “support” after a telephone conversation this weekend with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan.
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Reprinted with permission from RFE/RL Copyright(c)2007 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.1201 Connecticut Ave, t N.W. Washington DC 20
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