Fifteen Iranian researchers were initially banned from attending the TNT2006 Trends in Nanotechnology conference held in France this week, possibly because of political concerns over Iran's nuclear program, according to an article in Nature.

The article will run you $30 to download unless you're a Nature subscriber, but a news item from the Meridian Institute has this to say:

The article says that conference organizers say that the incident was due to misunderstandings about security clearance regulations, and the decision was later rescinded, but the article says that the incident raises concerns that political tensions over Iran's nuclear program could result in Iranian scientists being shunned. The article says that scientific cooperation has been the exception to international isolation in the past, for example during the Cold War. Iranian physicist Reza Mansouri said, "In the long term, the best scientists will continue to collaborate with our scientists, bringing more rationality and understanding into the dialogue, and ultimately more peaceful attitudes." (photo Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network)