Shahid Beheshti University continues research despite US-Israeli strike on laser institute

Scientific activities at the Laser and Plasma Research Institute of Shahid Beheshti University continue despite extensive damage caused by a recent US-Israeli attack targeting the research center in Tehran, university officials said.

Shahid Beheshti University President Mahmoudreza Aghamiri said parts of the Laser Research Institute and sections of the university’s Shahid Abbaspour campus were struck during the attacks, resulting in the loss of nearly 90 percent of the equipment housed at both facilities.

“Although the destruction has had a clear impact on infrastructure and a number of sensitive research instruments were destroyed, these damages have not stopped scientific activities,” Aghamiri was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.

He added that laboratories and research units were rapidly relocated to alternative sites in order to maintain the university’s scientific and technological work, particularly at the Laser Research Institute.

“With the rapid replacement of laboratories in new locations, scientific and technological activities at the university — especially at the Laser Research Institute — are continuing strongly,” he said.

According to Aghamiri, emergency measures were implemented immediately after the attacks to ensure that experiments and ongoing research projects could continue with minimal disruption.

While replacing the damaged equipment will take time, he stressed that the attacks have not weakened the determination of Iranian researchers and academics.

The Laser and Plasma Research Institute of Shahid Beheshti University sustained heavy damage following US-Israeli attacks targeting the area on April 3.

Exclusive: Pasteur Institute director opens up on US-Israeli attack, vows health mission will endure

In an exclusive interview with the Press TV website, Pasteur Institute of Iran director Ehsan Mostafavi details the destruction caused by US-Israeli strikes, stressing that the century-old institution remains operational and committed to safeguarding Iran’s health security.

The university at the time stressed that the facility is a purely civilian academic and research center used exclusively for scientific and educational purposes, rejecting any military affiliation or activity at the site.

The strike on Shahid Beheshti University is part of a broader wave of attacks carried out by the US-Israeli coalition against Iran’s academic and civilian infrastructure.

Iranian Science, Research and Technology Minister Hossein Simaei said in mid-April that more than 60 university students and 10 professors had been killed since the start of the US-Israeli aggression on February 28.

According to Simaei, over 20 public universities and several research institutes across Iran have been directly targeted, causing major physical destruction as well as the loss of scientific personnel.

Among the institutions hit was Sharif University of Technology, often referred to as the “MIT of Iran,” where the High-Performance Computing Center supporting more than 3,000 researchers in artificial intelligence and computer science sustained severe damage during an April 6 strike.

Several laboratories, educational buildings, and nearby academic facilities at Sharif University were also damaged.

Other institutions affected by the attacks include the Aerospace Research Institute of Iran, the Pasteur Institute, and a satellite development laboratory at Iran University of Science and Technology.

Iranian officials have described the attacks as deliberate attempts to undermine the country’s scientific and technological progress by targeting strategic academic and research infrastructure.

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