Tehran: Iranians have reacted with a mix of grief, sarcasm, and political recrimination after the US-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) confirmed it has suspended the TOEFL and GRE exams in Iran, cutting off a pathway to foreign study for thousands of students who had spent months, in some cases years, preparing for the tests.
According to Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, ETS informed RFE/RL's Radio Farda in a written statement that it had "paused administration of the TOEFL and GRE tests in Iran effective immediately." The decision was attributed to the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and its suspension of General License G. Since 2014, this license had authorized US educational providers to offer certain services, including standardized testing, to people in Iran despite broader US sanctions.
The suspension forms part of a comprehensive package of new sanctions introduced by the administration of US President Donald Trump on August 24, described by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as an "economic onslaught" targeting Iran's financial networks worldwide. Along with General License G, OFAC also suspended General License F indefinitely, which had allowed sports-related exchanges between the United States and Iran, among other licenses covering nongovernmental and personal transactions. Existing activities were given a short wind-down period until September 8, after which specific OFAC authorization would be required.
For Iranian test-takers, the practical effect was immediate and profound. Appointment calendars for the TOEFL in Iran, which had been bookable as far out as January, quickly shrank to just two test centers near Tehran offering slots through September 5 before disappearing entirely. This suspension follows a similar action by Duolingo, which announced days earlier that its English test was unavailable in Iran and to users with Iranian identification documents. The IELTS, administered by the British Council and IDP Education, has been effectively unavailable inside Iran since January.
The impact on students has been widely discussed on social media, focusing on the human cost to those who had no say in the geopolitical dynamics leading to the decision. An Iranian social media user lamented the plight of a "language learner" who spent two years preparing, only to see their efforts thwarted overnight. A petition on Change.org, calling on OFAC and ETS to restore access, highlighted the plight of students who "have spent months preparing, paid exam fees, and built their application timelines around scheduled test dates" through no fault of their own.
Some individuals used the situation to criticize assertions that US sanctions do not target ordinary Iranians. Majidreza Hariri, president of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce, sarcastically commented on X that only the children of Iranian officials have been barred from taking the language tests, questioning the assertion that US sanctions are not against the Iranian people.
Matin Mirrzamani, who manages Stanford University's Iran 2040 Project, described the new US measures as "incredibly aggressive with far-reaching consequences." He noted that both downplaying and exaggerating the impact of the campaign do a disservice to the Iranian people.
The flood of online posts condemning the new sanctions' impact on ordinary Iranians angered supporters of the Islamic Republic, who felt indignant that public outrage seemed more focused on the sanctions than the recent deaths of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior military figures during the war.
For Iranian students, the test suspension further limits an already diminishing range of opportunities abroad. The United States fully suspended visa issuance to Iranian nationals across nearly all categories effective January 1. With no ETS, IELTS, or Duolingo testing available domestically, students who can afford it are left with the option of traveling to another country, such as Turkey or Armenia, to take an exam, incurring additional costs and currency-exchange losses. For those unable to travel, admission to English-language graduate programs abroad and the scholarships often tied to standardized test scores may remain inaccessible until, or unless, Washington restores the license.