U.S. Sanctions Cut Off Aspiring Iranians From Tests Needed for Study Abroad
2026/09/03 1 Comment
Of note. Shooting themselves in the foot again:
President Trump’s latest sanctions against Iran have forced the cancellation of English proficiency and graduate exams that Iranians rely on to qualify for studying abroad, students and testing services say, penalizing Iranians who are eager to foster relationships with the outside world.
Among those organizations that canceled exams are the Educational Testing Service, which runs the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). They are two of the most widely used exams for students seeking admission to English-language graduate programs worldwide.
The Duolingo English Test, an online standardized exam increasingly used by students applying for undergraduate programs, has also suspended testing for anyone who is Iranian and cannot register as the citizen of another country.
Iranian students whose exams were canceled described a growing sense of despair. They said the sanctions were hurting the people who most want to pursue relations with an outside world so often closed off to them by Iran’s clerical rulers and decades of economic isolation….
Source: U.S. Sanctions Cut Off Aspiring Iranians From Tests Needed for Study Abroad
About Andrew
Multicultural Meanderings 
During the Cold War, Soviet students and those from the Eastern bloc were generally not allowed to study in the West. I feel like we are entering a new Cold War where the US is cutting off countries in the Axis of Evil. Viewed from this logic, cutting off Iranian students is understandable, if not also regrettable.