Iran sanctions reach education: Duolingo blocked, TOEFL and GRE in doubt

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, indefinitely suspended General License G on August 24 as part of the Trump administration’s latest campaign to intensify economic pressure on the Islamic Republic

The license had since 2014 provided the legal basis for US universities, testing companies and other American entities to offer a range of educational services to Iranian people

OFAC has allowed transactions necessary to wind down activities previously covered by the license until September 8. After that, services that are otherwise prohibited under US sanctions would require another applicable authorization or a specific license from the Treasury Department

The change does not in itself mean that every <a href="https://jiuniversity.com/200000-international-students-are-enrolled-at-egyptian-universities/” title=”200,000 International Students are Enrolled at Egyptian Universities”>international examination will immediately disappear for Iranian applicants. But its first effects are already becoming visible, while uncertainty is growing over tests widely used for university admissions and professional qualifications

A broad education exemption

General License G, issued under the Obama administration on March 20, 2014, covered far more than university exchange programs. It allowed US institutions to process applications from people in Iran, accept application fees and tuition, establish student exchange agreements with Iranian universities and offer certain online courses

One provision specifically authorized US persons anywhere in the world to administer professional certification and university entrance examinations, including standardized multiple-choice tests, to people in Iran and to people abroad who were “ordinarily resident in Iran.” It also covered services required for admission to US universities

That wording gave American testing organizations a broad sanctions exemption for services potentially including exams such as TOEFL and GRE

Its suspension was part of a much larger package launched under what the Treasury Department calls Operation Economic Outcast. OFAC indefinitely suspended five authorizations in total, covering General License G, US-Iran sporting activities, some educational activities in third countries, certain personal remittances and services connected with conferences

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the broader campaign as an “economic onslaught” against Iran’s international financial connections, saying Washington aimed to “sever every economic lifeline” sustaining the Islamic Republic

Duolingo becomes the first clear casualty

The clearest immediate impact has come from the Duolingo English Test, an online English-language examination accepted by thousands of universities

Duolingo’s official support page now states that its English test is “unavailable in Iran and for users with Iranian IDs.”

The wording is significant because the restriction is not limited to people physically inside Iran. Someone who travels from Tehran to Istanbul, Dubai or Yerevan but relies on an Iranian identity document would still fall under the policy

That has fueled frustration among Iranian students, many of whom already face significant obstacles in applying to universities abroad

Persian-language social media users responded with anger and dark humor. One user whose post was republished by the Telegram channel University of Tehran Twitter wrote: “It really feels like they’re competing over who wants us less.”

Another, reacting to reports about both TOEFL and Duolingo, wrote that Iranians were effectively being “excluded from the human species.”

A third mocked repeated assertions that US pressure is aimed at the Iranian government rather than ordinary citizens: “They canceled TOEFL because people were making hypersonic missile origami out of the test papers. Otherwise, of course, they have no problem with the Iranian people.”

A Duolingo-focused Telegram channel went further, jokingly announcing a “funeral for the late Duolingo” in a fictional cemetery next to the “TOEFL and GRE section.”

A Change.org petition launched on August 27 calls on Duolingo to restore a legal route for Iranian applicants, arguing that students should be assessed on their abilities rather than their nationality and urging the company to seek an educational exemption or alternative compliance mechanism

What happens to TOEFL and GRE?

The future of other major US-administered tests remains less clear

As of August 29, Educational Testing Service, the US organization behind TOEFL and GRE, had not issued a public announcement saying the exams would no longer be available to Iranians. Iran also remained on ETS’s official list of countries where the TOEFL iBT is offered

There are, however, signs that availability may already be changing

Two major Iranian test centers said Saturday that TOEFL iBT and GRE exams had been suspended across Iran, with one saying all ETS tests scheduled for the week had been canceled without prior notice to testing centers and another saying new registrations were unavailable until further notice

TOEFL Reappointments, reported on Saturday that TOEFL slots in Iran had been visible through January just a day earlier. It said only September 5 appointments at two centers outside Tehran were subsequently showing, with later dates no longer available

That does not yet establish that ETS has permanently withdrawn from Iran. The company could potentially rely on another authorization, seek a specific OFAC license or alter how it provides services

OFAC itself says companies wishing to continue activities previously covered by the suspended licenses may apply for specific authorization

For Iranian students, that leaves the immediate picture unsettled. Duolingo access has already been restricted, while the fate of TOEFL, GRE and other academic and professional examinations may depend on decisions by individual testing providers — and on whether the US Treasury grants them a new legal route to continue serving Iranian applicants

IELTS, which now appears to be one of the few remaining major options for Iranian applicants, is in a different position because it is jointly owned by the British Council, Australia’s IDP and Cambridge University Press & Assessment, rather than a US testing organization

However, while the suspension of General License G does not directly apply to it, IELTS testing inside Iran had already ended on January 31, 2026, after IDP cited separate “financial and regulatory factors” outside its control, requiring Iranian applicants who want to take the test to travel to neighboring countries

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Source: www.iranintl.com