Unfortunately, we are forbidden by US law (with, as I am told, serious possible penalties) to provide software, technical in formation, or services to, or get contributions from anyone located in a “prohibited destination country” under US Export Administration Regulations, as Justin links above.
We this have long-standing project guidance (from Fedora Legal to FESCo):
Sponsors (or any other contributors) in Fedora should not make any effort to determine a contributor’s nationality, country of origin, or area of residence. If a potential contributor independently (and explicitly) reveals their nationality, country of origin, or area of residence, and that nationality, country of origin, or area of residence is in one of the export restricted countries […], then they are required to bring that information to the attention of Fedora Legal.
And, unfortunately, once this comes to our attention, we don’t have any options: I’ll need to the account of the person who started this topic and noted their location in one of the prohibited areas.
I think this is very unfortunate, and counter to Fedora’s goals to make the whole world a better place. There are plenty of places in the world where people are doing terrible things yet which aren’t on the list, and the overwhelming majority of people (to the point where that’s an understatement, even) in the prohibited areas want peace and deserve to be part of free and open source software in general and Fedora in specific. But, as I said… we don’t have a choice.
I am working with Legal to pursue some possible exceptions, but I’m told that this is difficult, costly, and even with a lot of work and expense, a long shot. However, there isn’t much more we can do.