TEHRAN, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Minister of Science, Research and Technology Hossein Simaei-Sarraf said on Saturday more than 30 Iranian universities have been directly attacked by the United States and Israel since the beginning of the war in late February.
He made the remarks in an address to reporters during a visit to the Shahid Beheshti University in the Iranian capital Tehran, which was hit in a U.S. and Israeli airstrike on Friday, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Simaei-Sarraf said five university professors and more than 60 students were killed in the strikes, describing attacks on Iranian infrastructure as "crimes against humanity."
The development came amid heightened regional tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that began on Feb. 28. Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. interests in regional countries. ■
