Jamal Abdi, policy director for the National Iranian American Council, said the organization welcomed the reversal of the “discrimination policy. That’s a major positive step.” He said they knew the State Department had been working with UMass to change the policy. But not all students were embracing the school’s response, he said; there are still limits on what Iranian students can study. “There may be no perfect solutions while the sanctions remain in place,” he said. “People in Iran are largely pro-America,” Abdi said. “Young Iranians aspire to come to the U.S., study at our schools, learn more about American culture. “We don’t want to poison that relationship because that’s one that holds hope for the two countries and for Iran itself.”