Mar 9, 2026
A young Middle Eastern boy looking out from a tent in Idlib, Syria. By Ahmed Akacha via Pexels
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Middle East universities disrupted as conflict widens
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A raft of countries in the Middle East, including Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Palestine and Iraq, have announced the temporary closure of their universities in response to the widening military conflict between US and Israeli forces and Iran.
Some of these countries have switched to distance online education only.
Whole swathes of airspace across the Middle East have been closed or emptied, leaving international students and staff stranded in transit, and students and staff in the Gulf and other nearby states ordered to find shelter.
The escalating conflict began when the US and Israel launched co-ordinated military strikes across Iran in the early hours of 28 February and widened when Iran retaliated by launching retaliatory ballistic missile strikes and drone attacks towards Israel, and on US military bases in multiple Gulf and other Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq and Jordan, where several flights to and from airports have been suspended.
There was also an attack on a UK airbase in Cyprus. The attacks have stoked fears that the conflict could spiral into a wider war, drawing in many Arab countries.
After the initial US strike caused explosions in Tehran and other cities and led to the killing of Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, along with several other military leaders, US President Donald Trump announced that he expected the conflict to continue for another four or five weeks, but “we have the capability to go far longer than that”.
International students stranded
The closure of regional airspace in the region and widespread flight disruptions have affected the movement of international students and staff.
It was reported that a group of students from Queen’s University, Canada, are stranded at an airport in Doha, Qatar, and 150 Indian students are stranded in Dubai.
Some Michigan State University students are stranded in France after the strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran prevented them from making their way to Dubai for an educational trip.
Universities close or go online
In Iran, the country’s Supreme National Security Council issued a notice on 28 February indicating that schools and universities would remain closed until further notice and government offices would operate at 50% capacity.
Israel declared a nationwide state of emergency, banning all public gatherings and ordering the closure of most workplaces in caution of retaliation from Iran following Israeli strikes on targets in Tehran, Reuters reported.
Israel’s academic institutions have reportedly switched to remote learning and cancelled all non-mandatory activities.
In Qatar, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education announced that all public and private schools, as well as higher education institutions, would switch to remote learning, effective from 1 March, until further notice.
“This measure aims to ensure the continuity of the educational process without interruption while providing the highest levels of protection and safety for everyone,” it said.
In the United Arab Emirates, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research also announced a shift to remote learning from 2 to 4 March for students and teaching and administrative staff across all public and private schools and universities, with the possibility of this being extended if required, while the General Secretariat of the Council of Private Universities in Kuwait announced the continuation of studies by distance education system until further notice.
The University of Bahrain said it would switch to distance learning, effective 1 March, and until further notice.
Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq announced a public holiday for all schools and universities for five days.
The Iraqi decision came hours after columns of smoke were seen rising near Erbil International Airport, which hosts civilian flights and a military section used by US-led coalition forces. Four loud explosions were also heard near the Harir Air Base in Erbil province, another site hosting US forces.
In Palestine, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education also announced the suspension of in-person classes in all schools, universities and kindergartens for two days.
In a statement, the ministry said distance learning would be implemented as the situation is monitored.
Challenges to Gulf’s ‘safe haven’ image
Professor Magdi Tawfik Abdelhamid at Cairo’s National Research Centre told University World News events over the last few days “directly transform” the Gulf states’ long-held image as secure commercial and diplomatic hubs and safe-haven identities into “active theatres of geopolitical risk”.
However, he said: “While the current US-Israel-Iran confrontation has directly caused academic disruption, it remains to be seen how this instability might impact student mobility patterns as well as higher education investment.”
According to a 2024 study on international students in the Arab World, higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Egypt host the largest number of international students.
Out of 387 branch campuses worldwide, there are 39 branch campuses located in the UAE, putting it second (after China with 50 branch campuses) among the 85 hosting countries with the most international campuses, according to the January 2026 Branch Campus Listing prepared by the University of Miami’s Cross-Border Education Research Team (C-BERT).
Qatar’s Education City in Doha also hosts a cluster of international branch campuses, five of them American.
Philip Altbach, professor emeritus and distinguished fellow at the Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, United States, told University World News, as of 1 March it was “too early to speculate what even the medium-term impact might be for higher education in the MENA region”.
“Assuming that this crisis does not become a major long-duration war affecting the region … the fundamental status quo for universities in the region is unlikely to be much affected.
“Basic change for the higher education sector is probably not required or expected. But instability and conflict never helps.”
However, he said the situation for Iranian universities was “entirely different and unpredictable”.
“The sector will be greatly affected no matter the end result of the conflict – especially since students have been key opponents of the regime,” Altbach said.
Crisis management
Professor Atta-ur-Rahman, UNESCO Science Prize laureate and former coordinator general of the Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which includes the six Arab Gulf states, told University World News that in the circumstances “a robust crisis management system is not optional – it is essential”.
He said: “The missile and drone attacks on targets in states in the Middle East mark a significant and worrying development for the region.
“Arab Gulf universities – many of which have positioned themselves as global academic hubs attracting large numbers of international students from South Asia, Africa, Europe, and East Asia – depend heavily on the perception of stability.
“For international students and their families, safety is often the single most important factor in choosing a study destination,” Atta-ur-Rahman said.
“Even limited, localised security incidents can trigger travel advisories, parental anxiety, and enrolment hesitations.
“Institutions that plan, rehearse, communicate clearly, and protect student welfare will maintain credibility even in volatile geopolitical contexts,” Atta-ur-Rahman said, adding that universities should have dedicated international student crisis desks which coordinate with embassies, assist with visa issues, provide psychological counselling, and support emergency travel arrangements if necessary.
“Visible student welfare mechanisms reinforce institutional credibility,” Atta-ur-Rahman said.
According to Atta-ur-Rahman, university leaders in the region would be advised to establish permanent crisis management offices with “defined command structures, escalation protocols, and coordination links to national security authorities”.
He said: “In times of geopolitical stress, silence breeds panic. Institutions must implement real-time communication channels [SMS alerts, secure apps, and multilingual emergency messaging]. Immediate factual updates reassure students and parents globally,” he said.
Professor Mohamed Hassan, the president of the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences and the former president of the World Academy of Sciences in Italy, told University World News the move to online or hybrid teaching formats in Gulf universities “ensures educational continuity while prioritising safety during periods of uncertainty”.
“For long-term preparedness, Gulf universities [should] follow examples from institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by ensuring that all courses are available in a digital format, enabling rapid adaptation to future crises.
“It is also essential to embed or strengthen curricula in international relations, conflict management and peace studies.
“Doing so will equip future leaders with the critical analytical skills needed to navigate complex geopolitical landscapes and contribute meaningfully to peace and stability,” Hassan said.
‘Massive and ongoing’ campaign
The US-Israeli strikes on Iran began after indirect negotiations, during which the Americans were seeking to restrict Iran’s nuclear programme to civilian use, reached an impasse.
In an eight-minute video posted on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump described the US military strikes against Iran as part of a “massive and ongoing” combat campaign.
“We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground,” he said, adding that the United States would “annihilate” Iran’s naval capabilities and ensure that Tehran’s regional proxies could no longer destabilise any part of the world.
Trump has argued that Iran has continued advancing its nuclear programme and long-range missile capabilities, posing a direct threat not only to Israel and US forces stationed abroad, but also potentially to Europe and the US homeland.
An Israel Defense Forces statement said the Iranian terrorist regime represented an “existential threat to Israel” and posed a “danger to the Middle East and the world as a whole”.
Iran has insisted on its right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons – a treaty Israel has not signed – and has characterised the US-Israel aggression against it as a gross violation of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter.
Mixed signals in Iran
Despite Trump’s call for the Iranian people to rise up and topple the ruling Islamist regime in Tehran, there have been no reports thus far of significant civilian uprisings against the government, despite a wave of student protests the weekend before the latest military action commenced, as reported by University World News.
In fact, in the wake of the US-Israeli attacks, Sharif University of Technology was the site of pro-government rallies by students who denounced US and Israel. Similar rallies occurred at the University of Tehran and KN Toosi University of Technology.
In the week leading up to the US-Israeli air strikes, Sharif University had been a site of anti-government protests where students chanted against the Iranian leadership and commemorated victims of the government crackdown in January 2026 when a wave of civilian protests against the regime was brutally put down by government forces, with thousands of people being reported killed.
In a statement, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has condemned the attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran, calling them “a grave violation of the United Nations Charter and international law, and a significant threat to international peace and security, and to the enjoyment of human rights and humanitarian protection of people in multiple countries”.
The American Association of Jurists also issued a statement condemning the attack against Iran, which it said was “without authorisation from the UN Security Council or legal basis under the charter of the UN”.
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