Suspending tests in Iran may be considered as the first tangible effects of the sanctions imposed by the international community against the country.

The Educational Testing Services announced the temporary suspension of tests in Iran. This includes Test of English as a Foreign Language.

Experts and Iranian expatriates were shocked at the sanctions imposed by the International community. They said that this would hurt the optimism of the outward-looking youth of Iran who the Western countries have been trying to help and motivate

Toefl, or Test of English as a Foreign Language, is an important English proficiency test, which is usually recognized by Western schools to evaluate students abroad for admission.

Ibrahim Khodai, an official at the organization that manages student testing in Iran, in an interview by the Iranian Mehr news agency, said that the organization has financial problems and may not be able to support the students in taking the test.

But, he said that the suspension of the test is not due to the sanctions imposed to Iran. Instead he pointed out “problems we’ve had in paying registration fees to the E.T.S., an American organization” are the reasons.

The United Nations Security Council gives another sanction against Iran in June. This sanction pressures Iran to stop their nuclear enrichment programs. These programs have major effects on military purchase and other financial transactions of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

There were also other unilateral sanctions, which were signed by U.S. president Obama, to stop foreign banks to do business with the Revolutionary Guards and other Iranian Institutions that belongs to the blacklist.

E.T.S. is the right kind of organization, which must be exempted from the sanction, according to Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

He expressed his belief for education as a way for the youth in Iran to travel the outside world, saying, “Prohibiting Toefl from operating in Iran is counterproductive to the spirit of smart sanctions.”

He also added, “The government is not being hurt by Toefl not operating in Iran, it’s the people, and precisely the people we’re hoping to empower.”

A student from Iran, who doesn’t want to be named, and who is studying at Yale expressed his dismay saying, this is going to be a major problem for young Iranians who are hoping to study in the West.

He said, “It’s just going to make it harder for them.”

Source: Seer Press News