I received this letter yeasterday from a concerned young scientist. It is asking us to email ACS officials and urge them to immediately reinstate their expelled members from sanctioned countries. The email addressed appear at the end of the letter.

The letter goes into details of the ruling and proves that what ACS has done is wrong according to the laws and also based on scientific agenda of free scientific collaboration.

I would recommend circulating this email in your academic / professional communities and among your friends who might be sympathetic to the cause.

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Dear Academic Friends,

I hope you have heard about the incident in which the American Chemical Society dropped all its Iran-based (thirty-six) members in January (Science Magazine, Vol. 315, 30 March 2007). After a two-month delay, C&EN published two pieces of news on the matter, the latter of which misleadingly talks about ACS “move” of having filed for a special license in April (ACS moves to reinstate its Iranian members, C&EN, April 16, 2007).

In light of the ongoing crisis between the United States and Iran, in a time when the new government of Iran is hampering social rights and liberties, the incident has gained more importance since it further isolates Iran's civilian science from the international scientific community.

The sort of measure taken by ACS is a troubling event for a learned society for a few reasons:

1. ACS took the measure voluntarily, without ever being asked by the Treasury Department.

2. ACS's measure was adopted *unilaterally*, without letting the affected members be heard. The ACS constitution does not allow its board of directors to take such a course of action:

“A member may be dropped from membership for nonpayment of dues or for conduct which in anywise tends to injure the SOCIETY or to affect adversely its reputation or which is contrary to or destructive of its objects. No member shall be dropped except after opportunity to be heard as provided in the Bylaws.” Article IV, Section 3, ACS Constitution.

3. ACS has been extremely coy in informing the scientific community of its decisions and measures as shown by the fact that its official newsletter published the news *after* Science Magazine wrote about it.

The reason given by ACS for its expelling the Iranian members was that American sanction laws do not allow ACS's subsidization of informational material and “services” (knowing that Iranian chemists don’t use such services). This practice, subsidizing scientific material for the members, is more than common among learned societies where every society subsidizes / facilitates its members' access to the journals and books published even by other publishers. In the past, APS had inquired from the Treasury Department about the possibility of having members in Iran and collecting fund from them. The reply by the Department was affirmative (Professional Membership Association Guidance):

“The extension of membership to and acceptance of annual dues from Iran in connection with receipt by Iran of the U.S. Entity’s association publications and information would not be prohibited by the ITR.”

It is understandable that ACS's board of directors would try to protect the society against the fines predicted by the sanction laws (as stated by the ACS assistant general counsel), but the way ACS has managed the issue is not what other societies have done in the past. The common procedure among scientific associations has been that upon emergence of a doubt of non-compliance with sanction laws, the Society would continue its services to its members and apply for a special license in the meanwhile. ACS has decided to apply for the license after dropping its Iranian members, without ever being signaled by the Treasury Department that a license was needed. The academic community in general and APS in particular have been troubled by this stance of the ACS.

I understand that every one of us has come to the field he / she is working in for many different reasons. I also believe, that despite these differences, we share a common interest through the practice of our profession, which strives on two principles: free flow of scientific knowledge and open scientific collaboration. For this reason, I, as a member of an ad hoc group of concerned scientists, encourage you to email the board of directors of ACS and urge them to reinstate their Iranian members. You can also inform the officials of the scientific associations and academic communities that you belong to, and ask them to take a stance against the way ACS has been handling the issue.

The emails are:

secretary@acs.org :Board of Directors
annn@cameron.edu :Anne O’Brian, Director of District I
m_jacobs@acs.org :Madeline Jacobs, CEO
r_baum@acs.org :Rudy Baum, Editor in Chief of C&EN official newsletter of ACS

Click here to send an email to all of the addresses above.
Click here to see the webpage of ACS board of directors
Read Test Tube Zealots by Professor David N. Rahni, a distinguished member of ACS, who has served as the chair of William H. Nichols Medal, the oldest ACS award in the nation.

Regards,