Suppression of science does not even need to be directly focused to exist. As outlined in their paper in Science and Engineering Ethics published June 2021, Hossien Esmaeili and Behzad Ataie-Ashtiani find that sanctions levied against the government of Iran have resulted in an effective inability of Iranian scientists to publish their work outside of the country. Because almost all universities in Iran are state-run, they and their employees fall under the broad umbrella of the Iranian government. The authors cite examples of prominent European publishers declining all research originating in Iran for fear of legal actions taken because of the sanctions – despite the sanctions having debatable legality under international law. Additionally, it has become virtually impossible for Iranians to purchase scientific equipment and material from abroad (Butler, “How US sanctions are crippling science in Iran”, Nature, 9/2019).