President Joseph Aoun and AUB director Fadlo Khuri on March 31 at Baabda Palace. (Credit: photo taken from the presidency's X account.)
BEIRUT — Lebanese President Joseph Aoun received the president of the American University of Beirut, Fadlo Khuri, on Tuesday, two days after Iranian threats targeting American university establishments in the Middle East prompted several of them in Lebanon to switch to online teaching for two days.
During the meeting in Baabda, Aoun affirmed “the state's commitment to the security of educational institutions, particularly the American University,” according to the presidency’s account on X. He stressed that “the security measures adopted in the capital also include Lebanese and foreign educational institutions.” This plan mainly includes a significant deployment of the army’s 3rd Intervention Regiment in the capital, especially between populations displaced by the Israeli strikes and threats, and host communities, a security source told L'Orient-Le Jour on Friday.
Contacted, the Internal Security Forces and AUB were not immediately available to provide more details on specific measures concerning universities.
AUB, as well as several other American educational institutions such as the Lebanese American University in Lebanon, announced Sunday that they would switch to online teaching for the next two days, citing “precautionary measures” after Iranian threats to target American universities in the Middle East. Tehran denounced U.S.-Israeli strikes on two universities in Iran. The Revolutionary Guards called on “employees, professors, and students of American universities in the region to stay at least one kilometer away” from campuses that could be targeted.
The Middle East has been embroiled since Feb. 28 in a war triggered by joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran, to which Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and several countries in the region. Lebanon was drawn into the regional war by a pro-Iranian Hezbollah attack on Israel, which has since March 2 carried out massive strikes which has killed over 1,200 people and displaced a million people. This large-scale displacement has revived fears of sectarian tensions in recent weeks.
