She had planned to study psychology in Italy, but after US sanctions forced the suspension of an English exam required in order to make her dream come true, Iranian student Nikki cried for days.

Nikki had been due to take the TOEFL English proficiency test, a key qualification required by many foreign universities, in Iran later this month.

Now, like many Iranian students dreaming of a future elsewhere, she is scrambling to find another way to take it, while absorbing the new exam fee and hefty travel costs.

Testing has been frozen in Iran following the latest US sanctions announced in August, part of Washington's "economic asphyxiation" of the country over the Middle East war.

"When I found out that the exam had been cancelled... I did not leave my room for several days because I was crying," said the 32-year-old, who works at a pastry shop in the northern city of Lahijan.