AFP, Beirut

The American University of Beirut (AUB) said yesterday that it would operate remotely over the next two days, following the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ threat to target American universities in the region.

“At this time, we have no evidence of direct threats against our university, its campuses or medical centres. At the same time, out of an abundance of caution, we will operate fully online on Monday and Tuesday, with the exception of essential personnel,” AUB President Fadlo Khouri said in a statement.

Earlier yesterday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened to target American universities in the Middle East after saying US-Israeli strikes had destroyed two Iranian universities.

Crisis-hit Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israel to avenge the US-Israeli killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Israel has responded with large-scale strikes on Lebanon and a ground offensive in the country’s south, killing more than 1,100 people -- including 122 children -- and displacing more than one million people, according to authorities.