U.S. License Needed to Edit Iranian Papers.

The U.S. Department of Treasury has ruled that scientific journals based in the U.S. cannot edit papers submitted by authors from Iran unless they have the government's permission. The policy, described in a letter sent last week to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), stems from rules prohibiting U.S. organizations from engaging in trade with Iran. Editing is a "service" that requires a special license, notes the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces trade sanctions. No license is needed for reviewing submissions, the letter states, or for publishing them if no revisions are made. IEEE officials, who plan to apply at once for a license, say they pursued the issue to clarify the matter for all publishers. IEEE stripped its 1700 members in Iran of several benefits in January 2002 after deciding that providing these services could be illegal. Michael Adler, president of IEEE says the association plans to restore electronic access to its journals, which is exempt under the regulations, once it separates journal access from other Web-based membership services.