Sir

Scientists and engineers need to take action to minimize the collateral damage to science caused by the war on terrorism. At issue here are US prohibitions on providing goods and services to people in countries embargoed by the United States, including Iran, Burma, Sudan and Cuba (see “Publishers split over response to US trade embargo ruling” Nature 427, 663; 2004).

Reversing an earlier ruling, the US Treasury ruled on 2 April that the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) could edit and publish papers submitted by Iranians without obtaining a special licence. However, the same ruling “would consider a prohibited exportation of services to occur when a collaborative interaction takes place between an author in a Sanctioned Country and one or more US scholars resulting in co-authorship or the equivalent thereof”.

The implications of these rulings are severe. In 2003, more than 200 scientific articles were jointly written by authors with both Iranian and US addresses. A dozen or more English-language journals are published in Iran, and a few Americans sit on their editorial boards, occasionally publish articles in them, and often are sent manuscripts by their editors for review. At least one US university has advised its faculty not to review manuscripts sent to them by editors of Iranian journals. Scientists are vulnerable, at least theoretically, to large fines for violating these embargo laws. The IEEE continues to deny all member services to people in embargoed countries, including awards and advancement to fellow status.

While there is no indication that the US Treasury is targeting the scientific community, at least one scientific society has already run into trouble: the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry was fined for an illegal currency transaction that involved a small expenses payment to a Russian scientist, who unexpectedly cleared the cheque through an embargoed Russian university.

These rulings raise important issues for US scientists and their colleagues around the world. As the Association of American University Presses pointed out in a press release on 5 April, these rulings represent bureaucratic overreaching by the government. They provide no conceivable benefit to international security. Indeed, scientists and engineers in Iran and other embargoed countries are just the sort of people to whom Western democracies should reach out. They are well educated, often familiar with Western institutions, and technologically literate. They often occupy responsible positions in their countries.

The rulings should be a call to action by scientific and professional societies, and indeed to all groups interested in the free exchange of ideas. The academic and scientific communities in the United States need to respond to these challenges, preferably coordinated by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

The international scientific community is also affected, and should protest loudly against these restrictions.