OFAC Extends GL For Education-Related Exports to Iran
The Office of Foreign Assets Control extended a general license that authorizes U.S. academic institutions to exports certain “online educational services” and software to Iran, the agency said Aug. 24. General License M-1, which replaces General License M (see 2010290043), was extended through 12:01 a.m. EDT Sept. 1, 2022. The original license was scheduled to expire Sept. 1, 2021.
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The license authorizes certain exports to Iranian students who are eligible for certain nonimmigrant classifications and have been granted a nonimmigrant visa by the State Department but can’t physically be in the U.S. due to the COVID-19 pandemic, OFAC said in updated guidance. The license allows exports of online educational courses for the completion of various graduate degree programs and permits other transactions “ordinarily incident” to those courses. Only “accredited graduate and undergraduate degree-granting U.S. academic institutions, including their contractors” may export.
U.S. entities should seek a specific license from OFAC if their export services “fall outside of these authorizations,” the agency said. OFAC said it’s prioritizing reviews of specific license applications related to online learning services to remote students in Iran. The agency stressed that the license doesn’t authorize exports of educational software, technology, services or material to the Iranian government or anyone blocked under U.S. sanctions.