More than a dozen Iranian students, who were set to study in the United States (US), have their dreams quashed as their visas were canceled suddenly and they were not allowed to board their flights to the US. The Iranian students were mainly headed to California for their programs in engineering and computers.
Sudden rise in the tensions among the US and Iran has set several things into motion, and unfortunately, cancellation of student visas was one of them. However, the State Department claims that there has been no change in any kind of policy and these kinds of issues regarding visas come up every year.
The Iranian students, who were on their way to America had a different view though. At the very last moment, they were stopped to board any of the flights, the visas were revoked and one student, who had just landed in Boston was detained and was sent back immediately.
The reason behind this fiasco is the alleged attacks of Iran on two of Saudi Arabia’s oil installations. Saudi, during these years, has been a great ally to the US. A law was passed by the Obama administration, in 2012, according to which the Iranian students can not study energy or nuclear courses in the US if they intend to serve their own countries in the future.
Iranian students devastated
However, the students who were coming to the US were given single-entry visas and they were willing to leave their families for many years to come. Many of them had recently left their high-paying jobs for studying in the US. All in all, the students are devastated emotionally and mentally.
The student union of the University of California has shown her disappointment. She agrees that there have been visa issues in the past, but an issue like this is blatant discrimination. The white house, however, has decided not to respond to any question regarding the issue.
