Tehran, Iran – When the United States threatened an “economic D-Day” for Iran, announcing a series of new sanctions against Tehran, President Donald Trump’s administration said it was seeking to cripple its adversary economically.
To many Iranians, though, the latest measures also appear targeted at them, rather than the Iranian government and its leadership.
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Like previous waves of sanctions imposed by the US and its allies on Iran, the latest measures again disproportionately impact the country’s civilian population. And one sector in particular appears poised to take a major hit: education.
Previous sanctions have contributed to making Iranians poorer by triggering a currency collapse, leading to surging food and medicine prices. They have financially isolated Iranians through blocked bank transfers and digital exclusion through restricted software, cloud services and platforms. The US travel ban, which counts Iran among its primary targets, has dashed countless dreams.
But the latest steps go one step further, and come at a time when the Iranian government has also ramped up domestic pressure.
New sanctions on assets, education and sport
As part of “Operation Economic Outcast”, the Trump administration last week expanded secondary sanctions in five more key economic sectors impacting civilian life — aviation, digital assets, gold, shipping and technology.
Those sectors were added to a comprehensive list that includes financial sectors, construction and manufacturing, among others. Any person anywhere in the world operating in, or engaging in any significant transaction with, or providing any assistance to anyone operating in those sectors may be designated as a blocked party under US secondary sanctions.
That could bring about asset freezes and an effective quarantine from US-linked and much of global commerce. That is why, despite some humanitarian-linked protections, the years-long “maximum pressure” campaign of the US against Iran has had wide-ranging impacts on civilian life, including availability of some medicine and medical equipment.
Last week, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury also indefinitely suspended education-related general licences that permitted limited cooperation with Iran by American universities or people, including but not limited to academic exchange programmes and certain nonprofit education services.
The US also indefinitely suspended another general licence that permitted services in support of professional and amateur sports activities and exchanges involving Iran.
Another suspension targets services related to conferences in the US or third parties, while OFAC also suspended its permissions for certain non-commercial, personal remittances to or from people in Iran.
A very short wind-down period has been set for existing activities in all those areas until September 8, after which activities will require specific OFAC authorisation.
Washington has further emphasised that both US and non-US people anywhere risk being sanctioned if they engage with Iran or its Persian Gulf Strait Authority and other organisations in connection with obtaining guarantees of safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Language tests cancelled
As part of its latest economic measures, the US has contacted Iran’s neighbours to limit trade, targeted the operations of Egypt’s second-biggest bank in the United Arab Emirates and is considering action against another bank.
The stated goal of the operation is to sever every economic lifeline sustaining Iran’s government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in order to coerce them into shifting their behaviour.
But the suspension of General License G, which permitted education-related activities, is already quietly impacting thousands of young Iranians who have no links to the government.
Educational Testing Service (ETS), the nonprofit organisation which holds TOEFL and GRE language exams required to get into thousands of universities worldwide, this week paused administration of the tests in Iran and cancelled previously booked test appointments.
“This step reflects our full compliance with US sanctions law,” an ETS spokesperson told Al Jazeera in an emailed statement, adding that Iranian nationals can test outside of Iran.
“We are actively working to understand the scope and duration of this change and pursue any available paths to resume service, allowing learners to continue their educational journey uninterrupted.”
Duolingo, the American educational technology company that offers learning apps and language certifications, decided to go one step further than ETS by banning English language tests for all users holding only an Iranian ID – meaning that Iranian passport holders outside the country would also be rejected.
“Following an August 24 action by the US Treasury Department, Duolingo is required to stop offering the Duolingo English Test to people testing in Iran or using Iranian government-issued identification beginning September 1. This includes people outside Iran who need to use Iranian government-issued ID,” the company said in an emailed statement to Al Jazeera.
“We recognise that changes to test availability can be disappointing for affected test takers. We have contacted those with active credits directly about completing their tests or receiving refunds.”
Duolingo said in its statement that it does not know “whether or when the regulations may change”, and would “reassess the test’s availability” if circumstances changed.
Over recent days, many Iranians who were planning to obtain language certificates – whether to leave Iran, participate in international scholarships and research or seek better employment – were taken by surprise by the latest impact of sanctions.
In a Telegram group for people wishing to take the TOEFL test, which has 25,000 members, frustrated, panicked and dejected users have been reflecting on the news this week and speculating about what more could be in store over the coming years as the war with the US drags on after more than six months.
Some only know that they do not want that future to be inside tumultuous Iran.
“I couldn’t stop crying for two days, but so what? I won’t let it stop my plans for going to an English-language country or Germany as a backup. They [my plans] will be delayed at best,” said Faezeh, who added that she is now forced to calculate the additional costs of going to Turkiye, Armenia or other regional countries to take the test, even as the Iranian economy falters.
Some are now creating petitions and gathering signatures in long-shot attempts at overturning the restrictions, while others are calling on millions of diaspora Iranians to raise awareness or downvoting Duolingo on app stores.
Regardless of whether people can afford to or be able to overcome the mounting obstacles, many say they are being discriminated against based on their nationality, without any perceivable harm coming to the leaders and institutions of the government.
“Truly, who are these types of sanctions hurting? It feels like they are taking Iranians out of the list of accepted human species,” Danial, a young Tehran-based man considering moving away from Iran in search of a more stable life, told Al Jazeera.
He pointed out that the IELTS language test was also suspended for Iranians inside the country in January, blocking another major pathway. He said students looking to pursue academic degrees outside Iran have been watching other developments with concern, including several universities in Australia, Norway and the United Kingdom pausing PhD applications, sponsorships or enrollment for Iranians in recent months.
Many Iranians reacting to the news online this week said the latest impact of the sanctions was particularly jarring since, in January, when thousands were killed during nationwide antigovernment protests in Iran, the US president said: “help is on its way.”
The Trump administration has also tried to make a distinction between the majority of Iranian people and the government, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying in February he knows of “no other country where there’s a bigger difference between the people who lead the country and the people who live there”.
“Iran is officially a Failed Nation. IT IS DEAD!” Trump wrote in a post online on Monday.