Trump Admin Is Urged To End Sanctions Impacting Iranian Students

Despite the fact that President Donald Trump's new sanctions, called“Operation Economic Outcast,” are purported to target the Iranian government as it restricts access to the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the US-Israeli war against Iran, the policy changes have“no conceivable impact on the Iranian government,” wrote NIAC president Jamal Abdi.

“Instead, it is already being felt by American entities and Iranian students,” Abdi wrote.“Iranian students have been barred from taking key exams required for academic studies by US organizations.”

Abdi called on the administration to immediately reinstate 31 CFR § 560.544, which authorizes“certain educational activities by US persons in third countries,” and Iran General License G, which authorizes educational exchanges.

“The Trump administration would be wise to bolster the limited educational, humanitarian, and cultural channels that exist between ordinary Iranians and the United States, rather than send a message that the US is at war with the Iranian people.”

“For years, Iran was among the nations with the highest demand for TOEFL examinations,” he wrote.“Regrettably, the severing of these key global educational testing platforms will create major hurdles for Iranian nationals pursuing international education.”

The administration's policy changes leave Iranian students facing“overlapping barriers to studying in the United States: a travel ban preventing Iranians from securing US visas, alongside sanctions restricting access to English proficiency exams, educational services, and enrollment in US universities,” said NIAC.

“There is no world in which the US preventing young Iranians from taking English proficiency tests leads to the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and yet that appears to be the rationale for this cruel new policy,” said Abdi in a statement.“The Trump administration would be wise to bolster the limited educational, humanitarian, and cultural channels that exist between ordinary Iranians and the United States, rather than send a message that the US is at war with the Iranian people.”