The only effect this will have is to further alienate many skilled engineers and promising students, who are already at a great disadvantage due to language barriers.
http://listserv.utk.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0310&L=jesse&D=1&O=D&P=4946
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/wonews/oct03/1003ofac.html
"Treasury Department ruling puts IEEE on the spot, but could affect other groups, too
15 October 2003On 30 September, the U.S. Treasury Department (Washington, D.C.) informed the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) that it must continue to limit membersrights in four countries embargoed by the United States: Cuba, Iran, Libya, and Sudan. The ruling means, among other things, that the IEEE, the worlds largest engineering association (and the publisher of this magazine), cannot edit articles submitted by authors in those countries, making it effectively impossible for most such work to appear in IEEE publications. "