The US government has imposed new sanctions on Iran. Science Minister Hussein Simai Saraf sharply criticized the restriction of language tests as part of the sanctions. “The enemy’s goal is to force our country to capitulate through sanctions,” he said, according to the Isna news agency. He described the fact that a renowned English language test is now affected as “stone age behavior.”
In recent days, it became known that the TOEFL language test (Test of English as a Foreign Language) can no longer be taken in Iran due to the sanctions. A test on the popular language learning app Duolingo will also no longer be available. Earlier this year, Iran had already discontinued exams for the IELTS test (International English Language Testing System).
Experts also criticized the latest US sanctions. Many observers expressed surprise at the revocation of licenses that, for example, covered scientific and sporting exchanges. “These measures do not isolate the Iranian regime, which has been entrenched for years—they isolate the Iranian population,” wrote analyst Esfandyar Batmanghelidj on the X platform.
The regime itself fired ballistic missiles at the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on Monday. They were destroyed, according to Amman. Some also fell in remote areas, the state-run Jordanian news agency Petra reported. There were no injuries.
Iran had previously announced that it had attacked US military bases in Jordan in retaliation for previous US attacks. Already on Sunday night, Iran had attacked US bases there.
The US and Iran reported new mutual attacks on Tuesday. The United States, according to Donald Trump, targeted Iranian sites near the Strait of Hormuz.
Source: www.spiegel.de
