OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL
Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations
31 CFR Part 560
GENERAL LICENSE M-2
Authorizing the Exportation of Certain Graduate Level Educational Services and Software
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this general license, accredited graduate and undergraduate degree-granting academic institutions located in the United States (collectively, “U.S. academic institutions”), including their contractors, are authorized through 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time, September 1, 2023, to engage in the following activities with respect to Iranian students described in paragraph (b):
(1) Online Educational Services. The provision of online educational services related to graduate educational courses, provided that the courses are the equivalent of courses ordinarily required for the completion of graduate degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, law, or business, or are introductory science, technology, engineering, or mathematics courses ordinarily required for the completion of graduate degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, law, or business, and participation in all activities related to the provision of such online educational services to Iranian students described in paragraph (b).
(2) Exportation of Software. The exportation of software to Iranian students described in paragraph (b) in order to facilitate participation in the activities authorized in (i) paragraph (a) of this general license or (ii) paragraph (b)(1)(iii) of Iran General License G, provided such software is designated as EAR99 under the Export Administration Regulations, 15 CFR parts 730 through 774 (EAR), or constitutes information or software not subject to the EAR pursuant to 15 CFR § 734.3(b)(3).
(b) Iranian students referred to in paragraph (a) are individuals located in Iran, or located outside Iran but who are ordinarily resident in Iran, who are eligible for non-immigrant classification under categories F (students) or M (non-academic students), and have been granted a non-immigrant visa by the U.S. State Department, but are not physically present in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(c) This general license does not authorize the exportation or reexportation of any services or software to the Government of Iran or any other person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to 31 CFR chapter V.
(d) Effective August 25, 2022, General License M-1, dated August 24, 2021, is replaced and superseded in its entirety by this General License M-2.
Note 1 to General License M-2. The importation from Iran and the exportation to Iran of information or informational materials, as defined in 31 CFR § 560.315, whether commercial or otherwise, regardless of format or medium of transmission, are exempt from the prohibitions of 31 CFR part 560. See 31 CFR § 560.210(c).
Note 2 to General License M-2. U.S. persons are authorized to engage in the exportation of certain educational services under Iran General License G, which was issued pursuant to 31 CFR part 560, and to export, reexport, and provide certain services, software, and hardware incident to personal communications under Iran General License D-1, which was issued pursuant to 31 CFR part 560.
Bradley T. Smith
Deputy Director
Office of Foreign Assets Control
Dated: August 25, 2022
1) Read in conjunction with FAQ 853, issued in conjunction with Iran General License M-1. The GL was amended on 8-24-2021 to extend the expiration date by one year, and again on 8-25-22 to extend the expiration date by another year.
2) RELATIONSHIP TO IRAN GL G
Paragraph (a) of Iran GL G authorizes, without the time restriction found in GL M:
"accredited graduate and undergraduate degree-granting academic institutions located in the United States (collectively, 'U.S. academic institutions'), including their contractors, are authorized to enter into student academic exchange agreements with universities located in Iran (collectively, "Iranian universities") related to undergraduate or graduate educational courses, and to engage in all activities related to such agreements, including, but not limited to, the provision of scholarships to students enrolled in Iranian universities to allow such students to attend U.S. academic institutions" (emphasis added).
Paragraph (b)(iii) of GL G contains an authorization for "undergraduate level online courses," but only "undergraduate level."
GL M, by contrast, authorizes on a conditional and time-limited basis the "provision of online educational services related to graduate educational courses" that are outside the scope of Iran GL G. Paragraph (b)(iii) of GL G is limited on its face to "undergraduate level online courses."
Note that the GL does not appear to allow for the online education of all Iranian students that are unable to be physically present in the U.S. as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The scope of the online services GL is limited to "introductory science, technology, engineering, or mathematics courses ordinarily required for the completion of graduate degree programs." If an "Iranian student" is a graduate student in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, there is no authorization for the provision of online advanced courses in those subjects. Through the issuance of GL G, OFAC appears to make clear that the provision of such online services would not be "ordinarily incident" to activities authorized by paragraph (a) of GL G, which authorizes Iranian person attendance of U.S. academic institutions at the graduate level with no restrictions on courses. FAQ 853 signals a willingness to issue specific licenses to accommodate such situations on a case-by-case basis.