Admission of Iranian students continues to cause upheaval
21 Jul 2008
Some weeks ago, the Dutch government announced limitations for the admission of students from Iran. They should be barred from course subjects that would allow them to gain strategically-important knowledge, such as in the field of nuclear energy or chemical warfare.
UN resolution
With this ban the Netherlands says it is implementing a resolution by the UN Security Council against Iran, although the Netherlands is the only country taking such precautions. The United States, which initiated the resolution, is actively recruiting Iranian students. Several newspapers reported previously that the nuclear energy experts working in Iran are mainly from Russia and Pakistan.
Universities indignant
There is a feeling of indignity at the universities about the measure. Deans claim that there is no association with chemical knowledge at their faculties at all. Someone from the Delft University of Technology claims that eyebrows are only raised there when an Iranian student wants to build a rocket. And the Chemical Engineering department at the Eindhoven University of Technology says it does not plan to make things difficult for Iranian students.