Mahsa, a young Iranian student living in Europe, explains how sanctions affect her and other students

“Section 13 of terms of services :

PROHIBITED PERSONS (COUNTRIES, ENTITIES, AND INDIVIDUALS)

13.1.B Each individual which is a National or Citizen of a Sanctioned Country is hereby prohibited from registering or signing up with, subscribing to, or using any service of BlueHost.Com, regardless of where said individual is located.
….”

This is not a strange experience for us, Iranians. The majority of the Iranian population were born after the revolution, and lived with the consequences of US sanctions. While it certainly affected the working class far more than the oppressive regime of Iran, its consequences have never been so clear for ordinary people of the country.

More than ever during the 30-year life of the Islamic regime we Iranians encounter statements such as the one above. The new round of sanctions is restricting the access to the information resources, educational opportunities, job offers and scientific institutions. These experiences are widely affecting ordinary groups of students, like my friend in Portugal who had his Blue Host (Web hosting) account cancelled due to his nationality; and scientists rather than government affiliates who have kept their profit after long years of sanctions and war.

There are countless examples of such discrimination. In recent years, they have been extended to all aspects of our life. One example is the huge number of visa rejections for students or scientists. The resolution draft of the sanctions in 2006 included preventing Iranian citizens from studying in any field that would eventually contribute to the nuclear and missile program.

The Netherlands was one of the first countries to officially accept the policy against Iranian study applications in several fields. At the same time, getting the student visa is a nightmare for students seeking knowledge beyond the restrictions of the Iranian regime. Some fields are close to Iranians in most of the countries due to the lack of security clearance for Iranian nationals, even if they have not ever served in the military. Different institutions stopped giving or renewing membership of the Iranians. In 2005 the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics has decided to ban submissions from Iranians in its journals and conferences. In 2003 also, IEEE stopped publishing Iranian articles (since the U.S. Treasury considers editing an article a financial service). All the institutes now should get the U.S. Treasury- Office of Foreign Affairs Control (OFAC) permission to accept Iranian articles, or their presence in the conferences and scientific competitions.

Apart from these examples, the basic necessary services, such as postal services and banking, have imposed restrictions to Iranians. Banks such as HSBC do not accept any fund coming from any individual with Iranian nationality, even if the person resides in another country. While there are a lot of Iranian students living in Europe and United States, they cannot have any financial contact with Iran unless they pay a relatively high cost to send money through other channels, mainly the middlemen in Dubai. Direct mail services to United States have been stopped in Iran recently.

The first U.S. sanctions against Iran were formalised in November of 1979, and during the hostage crisis, many sanctions were levelled against the Iranian government. By 1987 the import of Iranian goods into the United States had been banned. In 1995, U.S. investments in Iran’s energy sector were banned, and later in May 6, 2000, all trade and investment and virtually all interaction between the United States and Iran stopped. UN sanctions started with the debate on Iran’s nuclear program to push the regime to stop its nuclear activities. The U.S. government imposed sanctions on an Iranian bank on September 8, 2006, barring it from dealing with U.S. financial institutions, even indirectly. The third round of UN sanctions on Iran imposed in March 2008.

It is widely said that the new “smart” sanctions on Iran, imposed by UN, United States, and European Union, are aimed at the Islamic Government, to push them to stop their nuclear program. But the economic sanctions, which as the examples shown has gone beyond the economic restrictions, has directly affected the life of civilians, who from one side feel the pressure of the oppressive regime against workers and women, and from another side feel the pressure of the international reactions against the Islamic government decisions. In recent years, the inflation rate has rapidly grown, reaching more than 25% last summer. While the suppressed working class is facing an unemployment rate of 20% and increasing poverty, they will go to jail if they complain. The arrests have been constantly increasing over this year with the increase in economic chaos.

It may not be surprising to hear the UN Security Council talking about new sanctions; but unfortunately, it is not difficult to find some so-called activists to defend the idea of sanctions to increase the pressure on the regime, in order to help the people of Iran in their struggle, as well. After 30 years of sanctions the Islamic Regime has not changed its policies, other than increasing the pressure on the people. And people are the only victims of the sanctions. They have also strengthened the grip of economic Mafia who control the black market and networks; It has been a good business for middlemen in Dubai and other Arab states of the Gulf; and served as a good excuse for the regime to cover the deep economic and political problems.

My liberal friend, who described Blue Host’s decision as “institutional racism”, still does not like to accept this is his favourite liberal system, and it does not make him change his belief in the help of other governments of the world in a regime change in Iran. Most of the complaints against the sanctions come from the businessmen who need to deal with middle men in Dubai for their financial transactions; while they blame the Islamic regime in the costs they pay, they easily ignore the role of the other side, which has no objection with sanction or war unless it achieves his goals in the region. Unfortunately there has been less attention to how the sanctions affect the life of millions of workers and – as evidence shows – students, who suffer the most; and they are the ones who can fight both Imperialism and theocratic fundamentalists to bring change.