Is a license necessary to travel to or conduct activities (even remotely) with sanctioned countries? 

Depending on your destination(s), authorization from the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) may be required. Travel to an embargoed/sanctioned country (e.g.,  Cuba, Iran) may require prior authorization in the form of a license. If travel to an embargoed country is for personal reasons, no University equipment may be taken, and no University business should be conducted without prior authorization. Most activities involving Iran (even remotely) will require a license.