February 17, 2010, Washington, D.C. – The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) has learned that the professional social networking site, LinkedIn, does not list Iran in their “Education” drop-down menu. As a result, people who attended school or received an academic degree in Iran are unable to include that information in their LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn had this to say in response to a customer inquiry about the matter, “The U.S. Government has in place export control and economic sanctions laws and regulations, which prohibit U.S. companies, like LinkedIn, from engaging in certain transactions from several designated countries, including Iran. This is why this country is not listed on the site.”

PAAIA has contacted both LinkedIn and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the U.S. Department of Treasury in an effort to determine whether LinkedIn’s reasoning is in fact grounded in U.S. law or if it is a misinterpretation. We hope we can help resolve the issue and look forward to seeing Iran listed in the “Education” field on LinkedIn. We will keep our readers and members informed about developments.