Citizens of Syria and Iran have been blocked from being able to play League of Legends, with the situation being put down to "US laws and regulations", amid growing tensions between Iran and the United States.

US President Donald Trump has imposed what he calls "major additional sanctions" on Iran over the past few days. Syria is a close ally of Iran, and as such are also affected by the growing tensions between the two nationstates.

It seems the cause of the ban may be due to these new sanctions. Players logging into the game in those countries are seeing the following message appear in-game;

Due to US laws and regulations, players in your country cannot access League of Legends at this time. Such restrictions are subject to change by the US government, so if and when that happens, we will look forward to having you back on the rift.

It hasn't really stopped players from getting online, though, as the wide prevalence of VPN services have allowed gamers to easily dodge the block, although playing via a VPN is less than ideal in competitive games. 

It's an interesting effect of the sanctions imposed on the country, though. Origin have yet to officially comment on the situation. Stay tuned to GameFront for more on this as we learn it.