Hundreds of gamers in Iran recently lost access to ‘World of Warcraft’, after Activision Blizzard locked them out of the popular online fantasy role-playing game --- a move which, as per a Blizzard employee, was a result of US trade sanctions.

About cutting off Iranian players’ access to ‘World of Warcraft,’ Blizzard said in a statement, posted to its player-forum site, that Iranian players are no longer able to connect to the much-liked multiplayer game because the gaming company had "tightened up its procedures" in compliance with US sanctions.

With the post, by a Blizzard employee, further elaborating that "players connecting from the affected nations are restricted from access to Blizzard games and services," the message implied that Blizzard could neither refund the Iranian gamers nor could it transfer their accounts elsewhere.

The issue pertaining to the lock out of the Iranian players from the ‘World of Warcraft’ title came to light late last week when Blizzard's European Battle. net forums were flooded with complaints from hundreds of players in Iran that they were not able to connect to the game.

Despite the fact that there has been no official disclosure about the exact number of players who have been affected by the block, Rob Hilburger - public relations director at Blizzard – has revealed that Iranian gamers compromised only "a tiny fraction" of the over 9 million ‘World of Warcraft’ subscribers worldwide.